Progress in Sudan Has Eluded Prez

US blunder has weakened the case for global intervention

(NEWSER) - The Myanmar junta’s shameful cyclone response illustrates some global truths we must face, writes Madeleine Albright in the New York Times. Among them: President Bush's ill-advised attack of Iraq has made it all the more difficult for the international community to intervene in the world's trouble spots. Instead, the principle of national sovereignty now rules the day, even when people are suffering. More»

Toughened economic measures thwart UN negotiators, draw China's ire

(NEWSER) - President Bush ordered new, tougher sanctions against Sudan today, ratcheting up pressure on Khartoum to end violence in the Darfur region. In an effort to keep the government from exploiting US resources to carry out genocide, the measures beef up enforcement and increase the number of companies and individuals barred from trading with the US or using American financial markets. More»

(NEWSER) - A top UN official has declared that the "real war" in Darfur is over, but that might come as a surprise to the 3 million or so refugees still living in fear of militia attacks, writes Andrew Meldrum for Global Post. He talks to relief officials who find the pronouncement "incredibly premature," in the words of one. It "directly contradicts what we see on the ground." More»

Jolie writes for Time magazine

(NEWSER) - Angelina Jolie argues in a Time essay that it's put-up-or-shut-up time for the UN on Darfur. The Security Council will receive a report today on the nation's genocide under the watch of Omar al Bashir, and its response will determine whether the idea of an "international standard of justice" is real or just talk. "The evidence the prosecutor has presented is clear and compelling," she writes. "Millions of people have been displaced; hundreds of thousands have been killed." More»

Says media claims are part of propaganda campaign

(NEWSER) - Sudan’s president says his military hasn’t attacked civilians in Darfur and challenges “anybody” to show evidence to the contrary. “What has been reported to have happened in Darfur did not actually happen at all,” Omar al Bashir told the BBC in his first interview since being charged with war crimes. “What happened in Darfur was an insurgency. The state has the responsibility to fight the rebels.” More»