News Topic - Sudan

Africa Unscrambled: Sudan - What happens next?
It’s all gone quiet in Khartoum. After days of feverish speculation and doomsday scenarios that Omar al-Bashir would unleash the dogs of war on aid workers, peacekeepers and Darfur’s displaced if he were indicted… nothing happened. Not yet anyway.
The Independent  –  Jul 18, 2008 2:50 PM [GMT]  ¦  comment?
found in World

Top prosecutor looks at Sudanese rebels
NEW YORK, July 18 (UPI) -- The International Criminal Court's top prosecutor says he is investigating alleged war crimes by rebel groups in addition to Sudan's top government officials.
United Press International  –  Jul 18, 2008 1:51 PM [GMT]  ¦  comment?
found in Top Stories

Tax question worries Patrick
Gov. Deval L. Patrick heard from Western Massachusetts municipal leaders Thursday afternoon that potential disaster looms on the November ballot.Photo by Bob Stern / The RepublicanGov. Deval L. Patrick holds a cabinet meeting in the Bangs Community Center in Amherst, Thursday afternoon. He is flanked by Lt. Governor Tim Murray, right, and Suzanne Bump, Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development.By MICHAEL McAULIFFEmmcauliffe@repub.comSPRINGFIELD - People may be nervous about the economy, but Gov. Deval L. Patrick heard from Western Massachusetts municipal leaders Thursday afternoon that potential disaster looms on the November ballot.Patrick, holding a public meeting of his cabinet at the Bangs Community Center in Amherst, listened as Northampton Mayor Mary Clare Higgins called for the public to rally against a ballot question that would eliminate the state's 5.3 percent income tax."I'm really challenging the whole room that we need to work together on this question," Higgins told an overflow gathering of more than 175 people.Chicopee Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette, echoing Higgins' concern, said the ballot question "ought to scare the living daylights out of any thinking person."Bissonnette then put the issue in monetary terms, saying passage of the question would cripple Chicopee's $150 million annual budget."We'll cut that by a third if this thing passes," Bissonnette said.The question got on the ballot after a petition drive by the Committee for Small Government, led by Libertarian Carla Howell, got the necessary 11,000 signatures.Leslie A. Kirwan, secretary of administration and finance, said personal income taxes account for about $13 billion of the $28 billion state budget."This is the most staggering challenge that faces us," Kirwan said."It's very important that all of you do as much as you can to see that that ballot question does not prevail," she said.Patrick said he knows taxes are not popular."I don't meet people who like paying taxes. ... I don't like paying taxes," he said.However, the governor recalled living in Darfur in the Sudan after he graduated from Harvard College. There were no taxes - and more."(There were) no roads. No hospitals. No schools. No public safety," Patrick said.In all, seven cabinet members and Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray were at the meeting.The governor then went to Holyoke for an outdoor town hall meeting at Holyoke Heritage State Park. Hundreds of people gathered in the evening heat as Patrick, his suit coat off and shirt sleeves rolled up, took questions and offered that the work of government is really the work of the public."Government is about us helping ourselves," Patrick said.Prior to the Amherst stop, Patrick met with his statewide anti-crime council at the Western Massachusetts Correctional Alcohol Center in Springfield. Kevin M. Burke, secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, said the meeting focused on programs that help prepare offenders for a successful re-entry into the community.State Undersecretary of Transportation Jeffrey B. Mullan stopped in Chicopee before heading to Amherst to announce that the 117-year-old Willimansett Bridge over the Connecticut River has been placed on the state's accelerated bridge project list. State Rep. Joseph F. Wagner, D-Chicopee, and state Highway Department officials joined Mullan at the bridge, which links Chicopee and Holyoke.The state House of Representatives Tuesday approved a $2.98 billion plan to accelerate the repair of bridges during the next eight years. The Senate now needs to approve the legislation."It's a high priority of the administration," Mullan said of the bridge, which has weight limits placed on it. "The administration has made a commitment to have bridges under construction within 90 days of the availability of funding under the bill."Staff writers Peter Goonan and Holly Angelo contributed to this report.
MassLive.com  –  Jul 18, 2008 11:21 AM [GMT]  ¦  comment?
found in Local: Massachusetts: Springfield

Sudan challenge
ICC faces biggest problem on its 10th birthday
BBC News  –  Jul 18, 2008 10:56 AM [GMT]  ¦  comment?
found in World: Africa

Charging Sudan's president with genocide could start good trend
Many aid workers and diplomats suffered a panic attack when the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court sought an arrest warrant this week for the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, for committing genocide. They feared that al-Bashir would retaliate by attacking peacekeepers and humanitarian workers.
Columbus Dispatch  –  Jul 18, 2008 07:02 AM [GMT]  ¦  comment?
found in Politics: Opinions

Arab League to Discuss Sudanese President's Genocide Charges
Foreign ministers of Arab nations are due to discuss a proposal calling on Sudan's President to turn in two War Crimes suspects to fend off his own genocide charges.
Fox News  –  Jul 18, 2008 06:29 AM [GMT]  ¦  comment?
found in World

Prosecutor looks at 3rd war crimes case in Darfur
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- With an arrest warrant pending against Sudan's president, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said Thursday he was focusing on another war crime case in Darfur involving two suspected rebel commanders allegedly directing attacks against peacekeepers....
AP  –  Jul 18, 2008 05:28 AM [GMT]  ¦  comment?
found in World

ICC prosecutor won't back down on Sudan's Bashir
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court's top prosecutor said on Thursday he would not drop his call for the arrest on genocide charges of Sudan's president, but the United Nations said the court must weigh the impact of its work.
Reuters  –  Jul 18, 2008 05:19 AM [GMT]  ¦  comment?
found in World

UN refugee agency seeks funding to help refugees return to South Sudan
The United Nations refugee today launched an appeal for $11.9 million to help assist the return of refugees, mainly from camps in Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, to South Sudan.
UN News Centre  –  Jul 18, 2008 05:00 AM [GMT]  ¦  comment?
found in Politics: United Nations

Prosecutor looks at 3rd war crimes case
AP - With an arrest warrant pending against Sudan's president, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said Thursday he was focusing on another war crime case in Darfur involving two suspected rebel commanders allegedly directing attacks against peacekeepers.
Yahoo!  –  Jul 18, 2008 03:58 AM [GMT]  ¦  comment?
found in World: Africa