As part of a growing protest against state censorship ten Sudanese newspapers suspended publication on Tuesday, journalists said.
Sudanese reporters said it was the biggest voluntary shut down of the media since the days of British rule in the 1950s.
The protest came a day after 63 journalists and newspaper staff were detained for more than three hours by police after staging a rally outside Sudan’s parliament.
The arrests were condemned by the US government.
“This is a real step forward,” said Faisal Mohamed Saleh, a columnist for Al-Akhbar newspaper.
“In the past a few partisan newspapers have staged protests. But most of the people who are taking part today are journalists from independent newspapers.”
The 10 papers were planning to shut-down again on Wednesday if other publications agreed to join in, said Saleh.
Reporters said the action had been driven by individual journalists who had approached their editors and management and persuaded them to pull their Tuesday editions.
The reporters were members of a recently formed Sudan Journalists’ Network which is also campaigning for a new press law to enshrine press freedoms promised under a 2005 peace deal that ended the country’s north-south civil war.
Journalists complain of nightly visits from security officers who instruct editors to remove sensitive articles from the next day’s edition.
Lakuka and her children, Afar, Ethiopia. (Photo: Jane Beesley)
By Jane Beesley | Oxfam
AFAR, ETHIOPIA – Worsening drought and high food prices are pushing many families in Ethiopia to the brink. Humanitarian Communications Officer Jane Beesley reports.
Afar, close to the Eritrea and Djibouti borders in Ethiopia, is dry and hot. It’s one of those places where extremes exist, bizarre juxtapositions. Cutting through the landscape is one of the best roads in Ethiopia, slick and black, linking Addis Ababa with Djibouti. Truck after truck hurtles through a landscape that resembles the surface of a far and distant planet – bare, dry, rocky. You think that nothing could possibly survive here, but there are scatterings of small dwellings – almost unnoticeable, almost indistinguishable from the surrounding large boulders and grey-brown landscape.
It’s early morning, already hot and the shade has virtually disappeared.
Lakuka (pictured) tells us that they have moved to be near the road. Things have got so bad they have left the areas they normally go to during a drought to be close to the road for two reasons: for transport (they have lost their burden animals), and in search of aid. She tells us she only has enough food for the family for today.
It’s a tight squeeze as we go through the entrance to Asha Yousef’s home (a quick reminder of how much bigger and fatter we are) but, for a brief moment, it gives Asha and her family some entertainment. The kettle is put on the fire and we are given a glass of piping hot, sweet tea: even in the harshest of times, hospitality to strangers is instantly offered.Â
Asha tells us about how they have lost most of their animals, and she’s been trying to feed her family with the few remaining ones. But, as she points out, while the price of goats hasn’t varied a great deal (100-150[1] Birr), the price of sorghum has doubled or tripled (from 100/200 to 400/600 Birr). People have had to trade more goats, from two to three, four, five, depending on their condition, for one 50 kg sack of sorghum.
Asha recently received some food aid, but tells us it will last six days. Asked what she will do when the food runs out, she says, “I’ll trade one of my three goats for some pasta. I don’t have enough goats to trade for a bag of grain.” And asked what she will do when the three goats have gone she says, “God knows.”
Asha’s elderly mother, Rockia, remembers a different time, when the rains came four times a year and there was pasture and plenty of milk. “When I was young there were problems, but not like this. The nature of the area means that water has always been a problem but, when I compare it to today, the environment then was very good.” In recent times the four rains have become two, and the failure of these rains is becoming more frequent, like those expected earlier this year.
Elsewhere, Amina is trying to breastfeed her two-year-old child Hassana, who looks severely malnourished. It’s a time when you face one of the dilemmas of the job. You come to see, to ask people questions, to report back on the situation – trying to raise awareness, trying to raise funds etc., but in so doing you can raise expectations and hope that something will happen.
The landscape reminds me of Mauritania, where once I asked some women what they were cooking. They told me “nothing”, then explained that when they had no food they put a pot of water on a fire so the children would think a meal was coming and eventually they would fall asleep. If the children knew there was no food, they would start crying and there was nothing the women could do.Â
I wonder if our visit today is like that pot of water.
JUBA, Sudan (AFP) — The European Union is ready to bankroll Sudan’s electoral commission, which is tasked with preparing landmark polls laid out in a scheduled democratic transformation, a diplomat said Tuesday.
“The EU is ready to give full support to the commission in terms of financing,” said Italian Ambassador Roberto Cantone.
The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended 21 years of civil war between north and south Sudan, calls for elections no later than 2009 as part of a democratic transition, but there are widespread fears of delays.
“We are aware that there are differing opinions concerning possibility that elections would take place or not,” Cantone said.
“Nevertheless, as EU, we believe the elections are a monumental step, not only for implementation of the CPA, but also reconciliation among people of Sudan,” the diplomat added.
Cantone spoke with EU ambassadors in the southern capital Juba for talks with officials, including the head of the semi-autonomous region, Salva Kiir.
Southern Sudan officials warn that a clean election is nearly impossible in July, owing to the rainy season in the south, ongoing failures to demarcate the border between north and south and delayed census results.
On Monday, Sudan’s national parliament approved an independent electoral commission. That was three months behind schedule after the new electoral law was passed on July 7, two and a half years late.
The line-up of the nine-member commission, appointed by the presidency, is supported by north and south.
President Omar al-Beshir has vowed that elections will be held on time, but some analysts argue that an anticipated international arrest warrant against him for alleged crimes in Darfur could undermine the prospect of polls.
China on Tuesday defended its presence and investments in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a rebel leader there demanded commercial contracts between the two nations be reviewed.
“China’s business activities and investment programmes in DR Congo are based on mutual benefit and joint development,” foreign ministry spokesperson Qin Gang told reporters.
“Chinese companies, apart from cooperation in sectors like mining and natural resources, are also engaged in non-profit areas.”
“We hope that these mutually beneficial cooperation programmes will move forward.”
Qin’s comments came after Laurent Nkunda, a rebel leader who claims to be protecting the Tutsi population in the country’s war-torn east, asked the contracts be reviewed as part of a list of demands put to a special UN envoy.
The east of DR Congo has seen months of heavy fighting, with government forces and Nkunda’s troops clashing repeatedly since August in violation of a January ceasefire. An estimated 250 000 people have been displaced.
The country has increasingly been reliant on borrowing money from China – a situation that drew the concern of the International Monetary Fund in September.
Beijing has been investing heavily in the Democratic Republic of Congo in recent years.
It lent the central African country an estimated US$9-billion in May to restore its infrastructure and revive the mining industry.
It also made a $35-million investment into the Congolese postal service last January. – AFP
TORONTO, ONTARIO – Bombardier Aerospace announced today that Ethiopian Airlines has signed a contract to purchase eight Q400 NextGen turboprop airliners, and has taken options on four additional Q400 NextGen aircraft. Including this transaction, the Dash 8/Q-Series aircraft program has recorded firm orders for a total of 1,001 aircraft.
Based on the list price of the Q400 NextGen airliner, the value of the Ethiopian Airlines firm order contract is approximately $242 million US, and could increase to approximately $366 million US if the four options are exercised.
Ethiopian Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, made its first flight between Addis Ababa and Cairo via Asmara on April 8, 1946. Today, it operates a fleet of jet and turboprop aircraft to 33 African cities and a total of 20 international points in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and North America.
Ethiopian Airlines won the Brussels Airport Marketing Award for long-haul operations in October, 2008. In the same month the airline also won the 2008 Best Airline in Africa Award from the Akwaaba Travel Market Organization and the 2008 Corporate Achievement Award in Johannesburg in August, 2008.
“The 360-knot speed, low operating costs and environmental credentials of the Q400 NextGen aircraft will enable us to maintain the high standards for which we have received numerous awards,” said Girma Wake, Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines. “The aircraft’s excellent range and payload capability will allow us to deploy it on domestic routes within Ethiopia, as well as on regional routes up to 1,000 nm (1,850 km) from Addis Ababa.
“Another key reason for our selection of the Q400 airliner is its exceptional performance in terms of climb rate, single-engine ceiling and higher take-off weight, and thus greater payload, from hot and high elevation airfields,” Mr. Wake added.
“Ethiopian Airlines will utilize all of the extensive qualities of the Q400 aircraft,” said Gary R. Scott, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “And we welcome this award-winning airline to the growing Q400 airliner family.”
The transaction announced today increases Q400/Q400 NextGen aircraft firm orders to 330 aircraft, with 210 delivered as of July 31, 2008.
The Dash 8 turboprop program was launched in 1980. With the introduction of the Noise and Vibration Suppression (NVS) system in 1996, the name was changed to the Q-Series aircraft program, reflecting the aircraft’s quiet cabin amenities. The aircraft are in service with more than 100 operators around the world. In addition to their role in commercial airline service, Dash 8/Q-Series aircraft are also operating in coastal surveillance, firefighting, navigator training, medical evacuation, mixed passenger/cargo configurations, laser depth sounding of the ocean floor, resource exploration and many other special mission roles.
About Bombardier
A world-leading manufacturer of innovative transportation solutions, from commercial aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment, systems and services, Bombardier Inc. is a global corporation headquartered in Canada. Its revenues for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2008, were $17.5 billion US, and its shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). Bombardier is listed as an index component to the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America indexes. News and information are available at www.bombardier.com.
United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Implements New Pre-Travel Authorization for U.S.-Bound Travelers from Visa Waiver Countries
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has added seven countries to its Visa Waiver Program (VWP), and launched a new Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) requiring citizens of Visa Waiver Program countries to complete an online process before traveling to the United States. These changes do not affect the U.S. visa application process for citizens of Ethiopia, which is not part of the Visa Waiver Program, but may apply to foreign citizens living in Ethiopia. The ESTA requirement does not affect U.S. citizens traveling overseas.
Beginning January 12, 2009, all nationals or citizens of the following countries who plan to travel to the United States for temporary business or pleasure under the VWP will need to receive an electronic travel authorization through ESTA prior to boarding a U.S.-bound airplane or cruise ship: Andorra, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
On November 17, 2008 the Czech Republic, South Korea, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Slovak Republic were formally added to the VWP. Eligible citizens or nationals of these newly admitted VWP countries may now travel to the United States under the VWP provided they have an e-passport and an approved authorization via ESTA. The requirement to register via ESTA for travelers from these countries begins immediately.
Currently, citizens of VWP countries complete a written I-94W form providing basic biographical, travel, and eligibility information while en-route to the U.S. On Aug. 1, 2008, DHS began accepting voluntary applications through the ESTA Web site at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/. Until January 12, 2009, when ESTA is mandatory for all VWP travelers, ESTA applicants will also still need to complete an I-94W form en-route, for presentation at a U.S. port of entry.
Visa Waiver travelers can access ESTA at the following here.
When a traveler logs onto ESTA, the system will determine, almost immediately in many cases, if an individual is eligible for VWP travel, and if such travel poses any law enforcement or security risks. ESTA applications may be submitted at any time prior to travel, and once approved, will be valid for up to two years or until the applicant’s passport expires, whichever comes first. Authorizations will also be valid for multiple entries into the U.S. To facilitate the authorization process, DHS recommends that ESTA applications be submitted as soon as an applicant begins planning U.S.-bound travel, and not less than 72 hours prior to travel.
For additional information, please visit the ESTA website above, which includes a link to Frequently
