Sudan: The Passion of the Present

Even More Modifications to "RSS Feeds of News from Africa"--Plus Additional Notes

The feed for afriquenligne in the big, big batch of widget-based RSS feeds of news from Africa has been changed/corrected to reflect a newer/alternate one (which may still be in the process of being worked on)--while the feed for Blog Africa has been removed, as it apparently has been discontinued, and the feed for Mvemba Phezo Dizolele's blog has been added.

Also, check out separate UK "Guardian" and "Los Angeles Times" features from over the past week concerning Ethiopia's Ogaden region.  In addition, the three most-recent "Voices on Genocide Prevention" podcasts (featuring interviews with the aforementioned Mr. Dizolele, HRW's Alison des Forges, and Enough's Rebecca Feeley) have all been about DR Congo.

Furthermore, see newer Reuters ("Death toll from Mogadishu market blasts hits 17" and "Somali Islamists seize town, kill at least 12"), Garowe Online, "New York Times" ("At Least 10 Killed as Somali Troops Shell a Market Used as an Insurgent Base" and "Somali Town Falls to Insurgent Raid"), AFP ("Mogadishu clashes toll hits 16: hospital" and "Islamists seize central Somali town, 11 killed: residents"), DPA, UN News Service, and AP ("Somali Islamists Take Control of Town", "Four Somalis killed in latest fighting", and "Aid Group Criticizes US on Somalia") stories specifically concerning Saturday's fighting in Mogadishu and/or fresh fighting on Monday, plus a semi-related new VOA feature (with the second stories from both Reuters and the "New York Times" plus the ones from AFP, DPA, the UN News Service, the AP, and VOA added [and the previously linked-to Press TV story removed, due to the fact that there's an overwhelming number of separate, related reports on its site] on Monday, and with the third, newest AP story primarily about a new Refugees International report). (Updated a couple of times, on both Sunday and Monday, to also note newer "Inner City Press" and Kenya "Nation"/Uganda "Monitor" reports concerning the allegations of kidnappings by LRA rebels in CAR mentioned in the previous post.) - EJM

More Modifications to "RSS Feeds of News from Africa"--Plus Additional Notes

The feeds for Kabissa and the Cato Institute-affiliated AfricanLiberty.org (plus a tag-based feed for CAFOD's blog) have just been added to the very, very big batch of widget-based RSS feeds of news from Africa--while the related feed for the State Department's America.gov has been changed/corrected to reflect a newer version.

In addition, see largely related DPA, Reuters, inthenews.co.uk, and UN News Service stories concerning major new donations to the WFP Humanitarian Air Service in Sudan and/or a joint statement issued by several NGOs concerning the HAS.

Also, check out new BBC, Reuters, and AFP stories concerning the latest allegations of kidnappings by LRA rebels in CAR.  (For more concerning the planned signing next week of the Final Peace Agreement between the LRA and the Ugandan government, see Uganda-CAN and Resolve Uganda.)  Meanwhile, Save Darfur and Enough have issued a new joint report, "Creating a Peace to Keep in Darfur". (Updated [further], on Saturday, to note a new AP feature, "Is Death Estimate for Darfur Too Low?" [also reprinted, in a slightly different version, on Sudan Tribune].)

Finally, see new UN News Service, Reuters, "New York Times"/"International Herald Tribune", VOA, "Nation", AKI, Garowe Online, and Press TV ("Heavy explosion rocks Mogadishu" and "Somalia hospitals in dire straits") stories that are tied in with the reports on Somalia mentioned in the previous post and/or a new UNHCR announcement concerning the number of Somalis seeking asylum in nearby countries. (Updated [originally], on Saturday, to note semi-related BBC, Reuters, AFP, DPA, and AP stories concerning fresh fighting in Mogadishu.) - EJM

Still Another Addition to "Sudan-Related RSS Feeds"--Plus Additional Notes

The feed for the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition's site has just been added to the very, very big batch of widget-based, Sudan-related RSS feeds; even though the date stamps for the posts suggest that nothing has been changed recently, they have been editing the posts to include newer items--including materials relating to the upcoming Olympic Torch Relay event in San Francisco.

In addition, see AP, AFP, Reuters, VOA, and UN News Service stories from over the past couple of days concerning the WFP announcement that three of its drivers have been killed in recent attacks in Darfur and south Sudan--as well as a separate, semi-related UN News Service story ("Attacks on Darfur aid workers jeopardizing basic relief efforts, says UN official"), and a similar new IRIN story that's primarily tied in with a joint UNICEF/WFP statement. (Updated, on Thursday, to note the stories from the AP [which had been overlooked] and IRIN, plus the UNICEF/WFP statement.)

Also, see stories from AFP ("Aid workers warn of Somali nightmare amid fresh fighting" and "Somalia too dangerous for aid work: agencies"), the AP ("Somali insurgents briefly seize agricultural town; 7 dead" and "Aid Agencies Warn About Somalia"), Reuters ("Somali Islamists plot more hit-and-run raids", "Somali Islamists seize key town of Jowhar", and "Aid agencies warn of Somalia crisis"), DPA, Al Jazeera, the UK's "Guardian", Australia's ABC, RTE, the BBC, CNN, PBS "NewsHour", Press TV ("Looming catastrophe in Somalia" and "Somali soldiers recapture Jowhar town"), afrol, Garowe Online, SomaliNet, MISNA (reprinted by Spero), Radio Netherlands (brief story and full correspondent report), the UN News Service ("Somalia: political solution key to averting humanitarian catastrophe, says UN official" and "World must not forget Somalia, urges UN agency as humanitarian crisis worsens"), the "Washington Post", the "New York Times", the "Christian Science Monitor" (daily online "Terrorism and Security" feature), and VOA ("Somali PM Pledges Action in Face of Humanitarian Catastrophe", "Relief Groups Warn of Worsening Humanitarian Situation in Somalia", and "Somali Insurgents Briefly Seize Town, Kill 7") that are tied in with a new joint announcement from about 40 NGOs concerning Somalia and/or the latest fighting around Jowhar. (Updated many times, both on Wednesday and on Thursday, to note several additional stories; the second, newer UN News Service story is primarily based on a separate WFP statement.) - EJM

Yet More Modifications to "Sudan-Related RSS Feeds"--Plus Additional Notes

The feed for GI-Net's new official blog has just been added to the very, very big batch of widget-based, Sudan-related RSS feeds--while Save Darfur's daily news feed has been replaced with a newer, alternate version.

In addition, Daoud Hari will be the guest on this Wednesday's edition of VOA's "Talk 2 America".  Also, check out Monday's "New York Times"/"International Herald Tribune" feature by Lydia Polgreen, "Peacekeeping in Darfur Hits More Obstacles" (also reprinted here, here, here, here, and here). (Updated, on Tuesday, to also note Mark Helprin's "New York Times"/"International Herald Tribune" op-ed, "Make Sudan an Offer It Can’t Refuse"; updated further, also on Tuesday, to note Mark Leon Goldberg's "UN Dispatch" post responding to the op-ed.) - EJM

Still More Modifications to "Sudan-Related RSS Feeds" and "RSS Feeds of News from Africa"--Plus an Additional Note

Malaysia- and Philippines-based Yahoo! News searches have just been added to the very, very big batch of widget-based, Sudan-related RSS feeds.  On the flip side, though, MSN/Windows Live has apparently (again) revamped its news searches, and in the process, dropped the related RSS feeds; therefore, those feeds have now been removed from both the Sudan batch and the just-as-large batch of feeds of news from Africa.  (Updated several times, over the course of both Thursday and Friday, to note Reuters, AFP, AP, DPA, BBC, allAfrica, UK "Times", UN News Service, CNN, UPI, and IRIN stories [plus related "On Deadline" and UN Dispatch posts] concerning the just-released OHCHR report on attacks earlier this year in West Darfur; a nine-page PDF of the full report is available on ReliefWeb, on allAfrica, and on the OHCHR site.) - EJM

Even More Additions to "Sudan-Related RSS Feeds" and "RSS Feeds of News from Africa"

A tag-based feed from the recently revamped Radio Australia site, search-based feeds from the UK's "They Work for You" site, a category-based feed from the Open Congress site, the feed for the UK's Associate Parliamentary Group on Sudan, and GI-Net's Rapid Responder Anti-Genocide Network feed have all just been added to the very, very big batch of widget-based, Sudan-related RSS feeds--while similar Open Congress feeds have also been added to the just-as-big batch of feeds of news from Africa. (Updated to note that HRF's "Made in China" blog [tied in with its new report, mentioned in the previous post] has also now been added to the Sudan batch.) - EJM

"Investing in Tragedy: China's Money, Arms, and Politics in Sudan" / "We were armed by Sudan," say Darfur killers

On Thursday, Human Rights First released a new report, entitled "Investing in Tragedy: China's Money, Arms, and Politics in Sudan"; see the press release and a 58-page PDF of the full report--as well as related AsiaNews, AP, AFP, Reuters, Al Jazeera, Xinhua, and "BusinessWeek" stories (updated both to reflect an updated version of the AP story, and to note the one from "BusinessWeek").

Meanwhile, both the Al Jazeera story referred to above and a new HRF site tied in with the group's new report mention a recent story in the UK's "Telegraph" and a related program that will air Friday night on the UK's Channel 4; see also a related AlertNet "NewsBlog" post. - EJM

More Additions to "RSS Feeds of News from Africa"--Plus an Additional Note

Both the feed for Afrika News and the Africa category feed for the "Irish Independent" have been added to the very, very big batch of widget-based RSS feeds of news from Africa.

On a semi-related note, Wednesday's edition of the UK's "Independent" has as its cover story "Darfur's return to hell", accompanied by an online photo gallery, an editorial, and a "Have Your Say" blog post--and with all-but-identical versions of the primary story also appearing in the co-owned "Belfast Telegraph" and "Irish Independent" (thanks to World Politics Review). - EJM

Talk Radio Goes to Darfur--Plus Additional Notes

The site for "Inside Radio" had this item on Monday (link expired as of Tuesday)...

A team of radio talkers are on the ground telling listeners via satellite phone the firsthand story of the Darfur crisis this week. Among those in the African nation of Sudan are Air America Radio's Thom Hartmann, Radio One's Joe Madison [specifically, he airs on Radio One-owned WOL in D.C. and the company's "The Power" channel on XM - EJM], Talk Radio Network's Rusty Humphries, Talk Radio News Service's Ellen Ratner and Daniel Patterson, and WCCO, Minneapolis middayer Jack Rice. The journey has been organized by Christian Solidarity International, which encourages listeners to donate to its "Sacks of Hope" refugee aid effort. [Updated originally, on Tuesday, to note that I'm not sure if Thom Hartmann's remotes will also be included in his separate morning show for AAR affiliate KPOJ in Portland, Ore.; updated further, also on Tuesday, to note a related VOA interview feature, which mentions that the hosts will apparently be broadcasting from southern Sudan. - EJM]

In addition, concerning last week's attacks in Abyei (as well as reports of more-recent ones), see stories from Kenya's "Nation", AFP, VOA, Sudan Tribune ("UN urges Sudanese parties to resolve Abyei row peacefully" and "Museveni to attend signing of Uganda peace ceremony in S. Sudan"), and New Sudan Vision ("Assaults and deaths along Sudan's north-south borders" and "Sudan's Kiir says would do anything to safeguard his people's rights").  (Updated [including in a subsequent addition, on Tuesday] to note stories from DPA, Reuters, AFP ["Bandits halve WFP food deliveries into Darfur" and "WFP to cut Sudan flights for lack of funds"], the AP, IRIN, Radio Netherlands, the BBC, the UN News Service, AKI, VOA [interview feature and regular report], and UPI concerning Monday's WFP announcement that it has had to dramatically cut its food supplies in Darfur.) - EJM

More Modifications to "Sudan-Related RSS Feeds" and "RSS Feeds of News from Africa"--Plus Additional Notes

The feeds for the "Sudan" subsection of the main "From the Frontline" blog, Andrew Heavens' blog-based collection of sanctions-related news stories, the Davidson College-based "STAND Stronger" blog, the "Chad" section of Enough's site (which greatly overlaps with the "Sudan" section), and yet another MSF-Canada blog ("Lauralee in Lankien") have all just been added to the very, very big batch of widget-based, Sudan-related RSS feeds--while the feed for OurPledge/Americans Against the Darfur Genocide has been changed/corrected.  Meanwhile, the feeds for the "Politics" blog from Kenya's "Nation", the "Africa" section of the main "From the Frontline" blog, Rob Crilly's new blog, Fred Robarts' blogs, and Kenya's "Business Daily" have all been added to the just-as-big batch of feeds of news from Africa.

On a somewhat-related note, Minority Rights Group International last week released this year's "Peoples Under Threat" report; see the primary press release (highlighting Africa), an alternate press release (highlighting South Asia), the main report section, the newly launched "World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples", an AlertNet "NewsBlog" post, a VOA interview feature, an IANS story, a Spanish-language EFE story, and a largely related IPS story.

The IPS story is also tied in with the recent launch of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect; see also the launch press release, a somewhat-related (syndicated) Nat Hentoff column, a "Toronto Star" story, a UN News Service story, "Ottawa Citizen" and "Hindu" op-eds by Ramesh Thakur, both a story and an editorial from the "Edmonton Journal", a story from Canada's "Embassy", a story from the Barbados "Nation", a Canadian Press story, a semi-related "International Herald Tribune"/"New York Times" column by Roger Cohen, an "International Herald Tribune" op-ed by Desmond Tutu, and a University of Alberta "Gateway" story.

Also, concerning the recent fighting in Abyei (mentioned in the previous post), see both an IWPR story and an AlertNet "MediaWatch" post.  Furthermore, Nicholas Kristof's latest column is another one from his current trip to Sudan (also mentioned in the previous post), although its primary focus is on aid in general.  (Updated originally to note another recent AlertNet "NewsBlog" post of interest, "Ten reasons Central African Republic should be on your radar"; updated further, on Friday, to note both Ramesh Thakur's "Hindu" op-ed and the one by Desmond Tutu, which had been overlooked; updated still further, also on Friday, to note the IANS and EFE stories concerning the MRG report, which also had been overlooked; updated yet again, on Saturday, to note the "Gateway" story, which was not included earlier because the source site had been down.) - EJM