George Clooney We Have To Make Life Miserable For President Of Sudan | E! Online

George Clooney continued his quest last night to stop the atrocities occurring in Sudan.

"We hear these slogans and say them a lot—"not on our watch," "never again"—but the truth is that when it comes to innocent people being slaughtered, it always happens on our watch," the Oscar-winner said at last night's Carousel of Hope Ball, where he was honored with the Brass Ring Award. "It happens again and again and again."

Clooney said he is dedicated to helping end President Omar al-Bashir's horrific reign over Sudan.

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"The truth is…were going to have to find lots of ways to make life miserable for people who make lives miserable," he said. "And more importantly…we have to continue to make life bearable for those whose situation has become unbearable."

One of Clooney's most impressive endeavors is financing a satellite that focuses on Sudan.

"It's an area that journalists can't get into," he said. "There's a good reason they can't get in is because the president of Sudan Omar al-Bishir is consistently and constantly killing innocent civilians."

George got himself arrested protesting outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C.

Clooney said Bashir, who has been charged with war crimes against humanity, has publicly complained about the satellite.

"President Bashir posed the question, ‘How would Mr. Clooney like it if everywhere he went cameras were following him?'" Clooney said as the crowded ballroom erupted in laughter.

The actor added with a smile, "It sounds terrible."

"You can't make people do the right things," Clooney said, "but you can make it harder for them to do the wrong things."

George talks about marriage equality

The event, held at the Beverly Hilton, benefits the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes. Clooney's girlfriend Stacy Keibler was by his side. They sat at a table with Sidney Poitier, Jane Fonda, Quincy Jones, David Foster, Clive Davis and CAA honcho Bryan Lourd.

American Idol star Jessica Sanchez performed "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going."

"I just want to dedicate this song to George Clooney," the 17-year-old singer said before belting out her jaw-dropping rendition of the Dreamgirls song.

Unity State confiscates expired products from market - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan

By Bonifacio Taban Kuich

October 19, 2012 (BENTIU) - Thousands expired commodities have been confiscated according to Unity Authorities finance Ministry, and traders from Ethiopia and Sudan being investigated for selling the goods after their sell-by-date.

Niemeri Mayual Garkek, the Unity State director for industry and quality promotion, told Sudan Tribune on Friday that the expired goods are being stored by the government after they were found on sale in Bentiu’s markets.

The expired goods are allowed to enter the state as there asre "no clear check points" to inspect imported commodities”, Garkek said.

South Sudan depends on imported goods from the neighboring countries Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. The country has vast areas of fertile land but insecurity and inefficiency in agricultural production mean that South Sudan still depends largely on imports, especially for manufactured goods.

Garkek says over reliance on imports is a big challenge for the young nation, making Unity State "a zoo of the expired commodities".

The expired commodities came through Rubkotna and Guit ports on the White Nile river which are used by traders to import goods to the state. Most storage facilities for consumable goods are not well ventilated resulting in some goods going bad even before their expiry dates.

The expired goods include medicine, maize flour, alcoholic drinks, powered juices, biscuits, and sodas. Authorities say will take to court traders suspected of bringing expired goods into the state.

“Before the demolition in that place we have apply what is so call legal procedures, in the present of legal advisor at the Ministry level or even there is no legal advisor we use to cooperate with those prosecution and attorney or legal administration, the legal procedure we have to use we do with what we call not comply form”, Garkek added.

Garkek says the government is working hard to stop such practices from reoccurring within the state, adding that traders should respect the role of the South Sudan National Bureau of Standards.

In the state capital Bentiu, consumers complain that many bakers sell bread with insects inside their bread and that rotten goods are sold in markets.

Joseph Gatluak Jal, 21, a bread seller in Kalibalek Market told Sudan Tribune that some goods are rotten when they are sold to them by wholesalers.

“It is true that some wheat flour carry some insects", he said, adding that "when we go and buy the wheat flour we could not know whether such wheat flour has spoiled”.

Jal who has made his living selling bread seller since 2007 earns between 15 to 20 South Sudanese Pounds (SSP) a day. He blames the government for not properly controlling imports and the consequent potential health consequences.

South Sudan lacks the equipment or laboratories to properly examine the import goods to the country.

(ST)

U.N.'s Ban hails Sudan-South Sudan oil deal - UPI.com

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The U.N. secretary-general said he welcomed the Sudanese approval of a deal with South Sudan that paves the way for the resumption of oil exports.

The independent Sudan Tribune reports Sudanese lawmakers approved of a cooperation agreement signed in September in Ethiopia with the government in South Sudan. The resumption of oil exports from South Sudan through Sudanese transit networks and a demilitarized zone along the border are part of the package.

South Sudan, independent since July 2011, halted oil production in January in response to alleged stealing by the Sudanese government. South Sudan controls most of the regional oil fields though Sudan has the export infrastructure.

Kenya and land-locked South Sudan had discussed building a 1,200-mile crude oil pipeline that would reach ports along Indian Ocean.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a statement issued through his spokesman, congratulated both sides for ratifying the deal. Both countries, however, were urged to settle outstanding issues like the disputed border area of Abyei.

Border issues, ethnic conflicts and disputes over oil had threatened to derail the 2005 peace agreement that secured South Sudan's independence. Both sides approached the brink of war earlier this year following disputes over oil in the border territory of Heglig.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2012/10/18/Sudan-South-Sudan-agree-to-oil-terms/UPI-26351350565861/#ixzz29ezFW000