Showing posts with label USAID. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USAID. Show all posts

Saturday, February 10, 2024

URGENT MESSAGE to Sir Tim Berners-Lee: The internet belongs to everyone including the Sudanese

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: This is a hastily written post, published without any edit and polish. People in Sudan are suffering after decades of war. Now their internet has been shut for several days. It was hard enough for them to keep going during bombings while managing patchy electricity.

In most parts of Sudan, banks, shops, businesses, churches and infrastructure have been destroyed. The Sudanese depend on the internet to receive money for food, medicine, electricity, calls for news and help. 


Brits gave the English language to the world. A Brit, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, invented the World Wide Web and gave it to the world, free of charge. He gifted it for the benefit of everyone instead of becoming a multi-billionaire.


This post is a direct message to Sir Tim to tell him that the internet has, once again, been shut down in Sudan. Right now, after five days "communication networks are still completely out of service throughout Sudan, except for limited terrestrial internet service in very few areas in some states".


In essence, this is an appeal to Sir Tim, the UK, EU and Mr Elon Musk to restore the internet in Sudan. Millions of lives and livelihoods depend on it. The Sudanese people are terrified of what is going on, why and for how long.

Being cut off from the internet is catastrophic for most of them. They fear heavily armed evildoers carrying out abductions and atrocities in secrecy. 

The world could easily bring satellite communications technology to Africa. Mr Musk could not have created Starlink without the work of Sir Tim.

If anyone reading this knows Sir Tim or Mr Musk please pass it on. Thanks. 

I have taken it upon myself to write this urgent appeal because I am blessed to live safely in England, UK where I enjoy freedom of speech, constant electricity and free blogging technology courtesy of, and hosted by, Google.  

Peace and love, Ingrid x 

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Related

This photo shows the resilience of Sudanese people. All the walls they built, stone by stone, brick by brick. At night the walls were removed by the Sudanese gov't. Next morning the walls would reappear as a silent protest.

Photo: A brick barricade on a street in east Khartoum on Sun Oct 3, 2021. Credit AFP/Getty Images. Source: Sudan Watch, Nov 01, 2021: 
'Sudan’s PM Hamdok well but under house arrest'

Photo: Another civilian road block in Khartoum, Sudan. Tyres billow black smoke when set on fire. After walls were removed, residents would dig ditches to block roads in their neighbourhoods to RSF militia vehicles. RSF terrorists often stay in/around homes in residential areas to protect themselves from Sudanese army bombardments, thereby endangering local residents. pic.twitter.com/szkxpJfvEL

Source: Sudan Watch, May 29, 2023: 

'Sudan: Dig ditch instead of making wall to block road!'

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2023/05/sudan-dig-ditch-instead-of-making-wall.html

Photo: “This barricade cannot be removed, this barricade is being guarded by men behind it” chant these little boys standing behind their barricade today in one the outskirts of the capital city khart #الردة_مستحيلة 

Source: Sudan Watch, Nov 30, 2021: 

'Sudan protest: “This barricade cannot be removed, This barricade is being guarded by men behind it"' https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2021/11/sudan-protest-this-barricade-cannot-be.html

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HERE is a recent photo from a village in Sudan showing a Starlink satellite receiver atop cardboard boxes with a cable running into war-torn premises.

Source: Cameron Hudson @_hudsonc reposted NabeilShakoor @NabeilShakoor post “Star Link in one of the villages in #النيل_الابيض  #السودان_خارج_التغطية state” 12:24 PM · Feb 10, 2024 https://twitter.com/_hudsonc/status/1756303186661454089

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Image: Hassan Ahmed Berkia @HassanAhmedBerk, a journalist from Khartoum, Sudan writes today (Feb 10, 2024) on X: “All communication networks are still completely out of service throughout Sudan, except for limited terrestrial internet service in very few areas in some states. #Sudan #Sudan_Blackout #Sudan_Out_Of_Coverage  #Sudan_War_Updates #InternetShutdown 7:03 AM · Feb 10, 2024.”

Source: https://twitter.com/HassanAhmedBerk/status/1756212348346335238


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Sir 
Tim Berners-Lee OM KBE FRS FREng FRSA DFBCS RDI in 2014
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

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Elon Musk FRS in 2022

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Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by private aerospace company SpaceX,[3] providing coverage to over 70 countries. It also aims for global mobile phone service after 2023.[4]

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink

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Space Exploration Technologies Corp. commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launch service provider, defense contractor and satellite communications company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and ultimately developing a sustainable colony on Mars. The company currently operates the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets along with the Dragon and Starship spacecraft.

The company offers internet service via its Starlink satellites, which became the largest-ever satellite constellation in January 2020 and as of November 2023 comprised more than 5,000 small satellites in orbit.[7]

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX

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Elon Musk is the second wealthiest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$232 billion as of December 2023, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and $182.6  billion according to Forbes, primarily from his ownership stakes in Tesla and SpaceX.[5][6][7]

He is a citizen of South Africa, Canada and the United StatesA member of the wealthy South African Musk family, Elon was born in Pretoria and briefly attended the University of Pretoria before immigrating to Canada at age 18, acquiring citizenship through his Canadian-born mother. 

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk

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Photo: Early Starlink user terminal with dish, as shipped in early 2021.  

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink

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Photo: Starlink dish on sidewalk of a residential home. 

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink

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Photo: Starlink WiFi Router


A wireless router or Wi-Fi router is a device that performs the functions of a router and also includes the functions of a wireless access point. It is used to provide access to the Internet or a private computer network. Depending on the manufacturer and model, it can function in a wired local area network, in a wireless-only LAN, or in a mixed wired and wireless network. 

Source:  Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink

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Photo: This NeXT workstation (a NeXTcube, monitor Cern 57503) was used by Tim Berners-Lee as the first Web server on the World Wide Web. It is shown here as displayed in 2005 at Microcosm, the public science museum at CERN where Berners-Lee was working in 1991 when he invented the Web. The document resting on the keyboard is a copy of "CERN DD/OC March 1989 Information Management: A Proposal. Abstract" which was Berners-Lee's original proposal for the World Wide Web. 


(Further text visible: "...distributed hypertext systems, Hypertext, computer conferencing, document retrieval, information management. Project, IBM Group talk, VAX/Notes, CERNDOC, UUCP News, Hierarchical systems".) 


The partly peeled off label on the cube itself has the following text: "This machine is a server. DO NOT POWER IT DOWN!!" The labels on top of the server and on the keyboard read "PROPRIETE CERN" (French for "Cern property"). 


Just below the keyboard (not shown) is a label which reads: "At the end of the 80s, Tim Berners-Lee (TBL) invented the World Wide Web using this Next computer as the first Web server." The book is the enyclopedia in many parts of Robert Kemp Philp, ed.: "Enquire Within upon Everything", London 1856 and later editions, which TBL describes on page one of his book "Weaving the Web. The Original Design and Ultimate Destiny of the World Wide Web as "a musty old book of Victorian advice I noticed as a child in my parents' house outside London". 


(Text that is almost legible in the high resolution picture: 750. Diuretics, 756. Diaphoretics, 761. Expectorants, 765. Ginger). 


Text at the beginning of Tim Berners-Lee: Weaving the Web, Chapter 1 Enquire Within upon Everything: "When I first began tinkering with a software program that eventually gave rise to the idea of the World Wide Web, I named it Enquire, short for Enquire Within upon Everything, a musty old book of Victorian advice I noticed as a child in my parents' house outside London. With its title suggestive of magic, the book served as a portal to a world of information, everything from how to remove clothing stains to tips on investing money. Not a perfect analogy for the Web, but a primitive starting point. What that first bit of Enquire code led me to was something much larger, a vision encompassing the decentralized, organic growth of ideas, technology and society. The vision I have for the Web is about anything being potentially connected with anything..." 


This is a new upload by Coolcaesar of the original JPEG file on en:September 22, en:2008 directly to Commons in response to continued vandalism of the original.


Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web

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Sudan Watch - Nov 10, 2021

Sudan cuts off internet despite court order to restore

Technology & internet accessibility are a human right. Shutting down an entire country for 16 days is a violation of #humanrights and should be recognised as such. I didn’t speak to my mother & family in 16 days. This in 2021. #InternetShutDown #SudanCoup #Amnestyinternational 

[…] Internet remains largely disrupted in #Sudan for a 16th day after a military coup targeted the transitional civilian government. The shutdown is ongoing despite successful legal intervention and court ruling to restore internet service. 

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2021/11/sudan-cuts-off-internet-despite-court.html

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Sudan Watch - Nov 10, 2021

Sudanese court orders telcos to restore internet

The US Agency for International Development Mission in Sudan said cuts to internet services were a breach of international law and a “suppression of freedom of speech".

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2021/11/sudanese-court-orders-telcos-to-restore.html

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UPDATE on Mon 12 Feb 2024: 
changed italic to non-italic post titles; added spaces in last 3 reports.

END

Sunday, May 21, 2023

USAID pledges $100M for Sudan and its neighbours

THIS woman's ego knows no bounds. I recall her from Darfur war days. She'd step on dead bodies if it'd further her career. The way she writes says it all.

Saturday, May 20, 2023

Sudan: Rocket hits Chadian refugee camp kills 1: UN

Report from Xinhua

Editor: Huaxia

Dated Saturday 20 May 2023; 00:15 - full copy:


Rocket strike on Chadian refugee camp kills one: UN


YAOUNDE, May 19 (Xinhua) -- At least a refugee was killed by a rocket strike on a camp for Sudanese refugees in the eastern Chadian border village of Koufroun on Thursday, according to the United Nations (UN).


"It is with dismay that we learned of the death of a Sudanese refugee in Koufroun, following rocket launchers from the Sudanese side located a few meters from the border, which makes the relocation of refugee camp an urgent priority," the UN in Chad said in a tweet late Thursday without further details on the identity of the victim.


The UN added that the refugee situation was "alarming" in eastern Chad where there was a pressing need for funding.


About 80,000 people including refugees and returnees have fled Sudan to Chad since the military clashes between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces broke out on April 15.


The Sudanese Doctors Union said Tuesday in a statement that the civilian death toll had climbed to 822 because of the conflict.

Original: http://www.chinaview.cn/africa/20230520/0798b7efbe8946de83f16c520f2d53a8/c.html 

[Ends]

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

US confirms second American death in Sudan, seeks extended cease-fire

Report from Arab News

By Reuters


Dated Wednesday 26 April 2023 13:32 - full copy:


US confirms second American death in Sudan, seeks extended cease-fire

A man walks by a house hit in recent fighting in Khartoum, Sudan, Tuesday, April 25, 2023. (AP)


Kirby told reporters the violence had gone significantly down in Sudan


WASHINGTON: A second American has died in Sudan, the White House said on Wednesday, adding that it was helping a small number of US citizens seeking to leave the country amid ongoing clashes even as overall violence appeared significantly down.


White House national security spokesman John Kirby, speaking to reporters, said the Biden administration was continuing to work with both sides of the conflict to strengthen the cease-fire in order to allow in more humanitarian assistance.


“We urge both military factions” to abide by the cease-fire “and to further extend it,” Kirby told reporters, adding that the violence “levels... generally appear to have gone significantly down.”


“The levels are down, but we want to see the levels at zero,” he added.


The White House’s comments come as fighting between Sudan’s army and a paramilitary force flared on the outskirts of the capital of Khartoum despite a truce aimed at quelling the 11-day conflict.


Kirby said US President Joe Biden “has asked for every conceivable option to help as many Americans as possible,” and that it “was actively facilitating the departure of a relatively small number of Americans” who wanted to leave.


Some US citizens had arrived at Port Sudan to evacuate and were being supported, and the United States was continuing to support other limited evacuation efforts, he added.


USAID has deployed teams in the region and is prepared to help provide humanitarian assistance but any cease-fire would have to remain in place and be extended, Kirby told reporters. 


View original: https://arab.news/8dnbd


Condolences. RIP  + +  +

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Sudanese court orders telcos to restore internet

SEVERAL Sudanese told The National  they have resorted to using word of mouth and leaflets to organise demonstrations against the military takeover because internet access was cut. Read more:

From The National by Nada AlTaher

Dated Wednesday 10 November 2021 


Sudan still without internet despite court order to restore services



Photo © MOHAMED NURELDIN ABDALLAH Thousands of Sudanese have joined mass protests against the military takeover on October 25. Reuters


A Sudanese court has ordered the three main telecoms providers in the country to restore internet access, but services were still disrupted more than two weeks after they were first cut off.

Internet activity monitor NetBlocks reported on Tuesday that the disruption, which began on October 25 when a military takeover deposed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, largely continued after the court order.

The US Agency for International Development Mission in Sudan said cuts to internet services were a breach of international law and a “suppression of freedom of speech".

On Tuesday, Sudan's military chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan issued a decision to form a group to strip financial support from the Empowerment Removal Committee.

The committee, which has been suspended, was established after former president Omar Al Bashir was ousted. It was set up to dismantle Al Bashir's regime and dissolve his National Congress Party.

Sudanese opposition groups have called for another “march of millions” protest to be held on Saturday, November 13.

Several Sudanese told The National they have resorted to using word of mouth and leaflets to organise demonstrations against the military takeover because internet access was cut.

Large protests were staged on October 30 to mark the anniversary of the 2019 uprising, with thousands of people taking to the streets to show their opposition to the removal of Mr Hamdok.

Cuts to internet access during political unrest is not uncommon in Sudan. Services were disrupted during the nationwide protests that toppled Al Bashir.

Mediation efforts between the military and civilian leaders continue to stall.

See two tweets in original copy here: https://www.msn.com/en-ae/news/world/sudan-still-without-internet-despite-court-order-to-restore-services/ar-AAQwN72

Tuesday, November 09, 2021

Day 16 Sudan military distrupts internet and telecoms

Saturday, February 22, 2020

Sudan: N. Darfur 10,000 families displaced this week - Poor humanitarian conditions, lack of water & food



NOTE from Sudan Watch editor: UNHCR has spent well over a decade and billions of dollars in funding to help ease the humanitarian crises in Darfur and other regions of Sudan, South Sudan and Chad. Surely UNHCR and other aid agencies should be providing decent humanitarian assistance, safe drinking water and enough food and medical care for people in desperate need.

In China last month, within one week the Chinese built, from scratch, a fully equipped emergency hospital to accommodate at least 1,000 patients suffering from the contagious Coronavirus. 

Billions of dollars worth of aid have been donated to Sudan and South Sudan over the past 15 years or so. What are UNHCR and other aid agencies failing to meet basic needs? Are they corrupt or what? Why are poor Sudanese people still suffering? Why isn't mainstream media investigating the work humanitarian aid agencies? Lazy bums. Note, I have added a tag entitled 'UNHCR corruption' and will keep an eye on news regarding aid agencies in Sudan, South Sudan and Chad. 

Friday, August 30, 2019

S. Sudan works to protect wildlife

Article from Associated Press
By Sam Mednick
Date of publication: Saturday, 27 July 2019 Updated 9:21 am CDT 
South Sudan tries to protect wildlife after long conflict

In this photo of Saturday March 16 2019, Rangers walk in a field near the Bire Kpatous game reserve along the Congolese border. South Sudan is trying to rebuild its vast national parks and game reserves following a five-year civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people. The conflict stripped the country of much wildlife but biodiversity remains rich with more than 300 mammal species, including 11 primates, but poaching is a growing threat. IMAGE 1 OF 12. Photo by Sam Mednick, AP
BIRE KPATOUS GAME RESERVE, South Sudan (AP) — Charles Matthew secures his beret, slings a rifle over his shoulder and prepares a team for an overnight foot patrol in Bire Kpatous, one of South Sudan's game reserves that survived the country's civil war but are now increasingly threatened by poachers and encroaching human settlements.

Matthew, 45, said he's proud of his work after years of being a soldier and has learned a lot about wildlife. "I didn't even know the names of species like aardvark, pangolin, crocodile and chimpanzee," he said of his knowledge when he started as a ranger 14 years ago.

But he worries about the reserve: "When poachers come and are well-armed, we can't get there in time."
South Sudan is trying to rebuild its six national parks and 13 game reserves, which cover more than 13% of the country's terrain, following the five-year civil war that ended last year after killing nearly 400,000 people. A fragile peace deal still has key steps to carry out.

The fighting stripped the country of much wildlife and the parks are rudimentary, lacking lodges, visitors' centers and roads. There is no significant tourism; the parks department does not even keep statistics on the number of visitors.

"Given these challenges, the biodiversity of South Sudan is in peril," said DeeAnn Reeder, a conservationist and professor at Bucknell University who has done research there. She called conservation efforts "significant but relatively small in scale given the vastness of the country" that still has the potential for surprise. The documentation of forest elephants in South Sudan was a "very significant find."

That biodiversity remains rich with more than 300 mammal species, including 11 primates. The country boasts one of Africa's greatest annual antelope migrations.

Now the biggest threat to the country's wildlife is poaching, the scourge that afflicts parks and reserves across Africa.

Bire Kpatous, near the Congo border and a convergence point for flora and fauna from Central and East Africa, has one of the region's "forgotten forests," as some conservationists call them. It is home to animals such as bongo antelopes, badger bats, African golden cats, forest elephants and forest buffalos.

The spread of unlicensed firearms, however, threatens to decimate wildlife while the resources to combat it are scarce. South Sudan's government allocated nearly $6 million for the parks and reserves last year, a figure considered woefully inadequate by some local authorities.

Western Equatoria state, where Bire Kpatous is located, has just one car for the 184 rangers overseeing three game reserves and one national park.

Some donors are stepping up. South Sudan last month received a pledge of $7.6 million from the United States Agency for International Development and another $1.5 million from the Wildlife Conservation Society to protect the parks.

Insecurity remains a challenge as unrest from the civil war continues. Western Equatoria state's national park, Southern Park, has been almost completely cut off from rangers' patrols since opposition fighters occupied parts of it in 2015, said Jonathan Nyari, former state director for wildlife services.
Bire Kpatous is also threatened by encroaching human settlements. Residents already burn swaths of land surrounding the park to clear it for cultivation. Rangers are working to foster support for the parks among local residents, who sometimes go out on patrol with rangers.

"Whenever we patrol the forest we sleep separately. In case we're attacked by poachers at least one person might survive," said Masimino Pasquale, a resident working with the rangers.

Residents say they often hear gunshots in the park but are without transport to investigate, said Samuel Apollo, the community's chief.

Another resident and wildlife advocate, Philip Michael, said he was threatened with death last year by people who blamed him for not "allowing them to kill animals."
The Britain-based Fauna & Flora International is teaching rangers and community members how to use a GPS, set camera traps and establish sustainable practices. The group also is trying to help South Sudan develop conservation tourism as an alternative source of revenue for a country whose economy is almost entirely dependent on oil.

While progress is slow, several rangers said they are seeing more signs of animals during patrols than they did last year.

Local teacher Isaac Pisiru said he wants to organize field trips to the park so his students will learn the importance of protecting animals.

"If I don't teach them about protecting animals, people will start destroying them," he said. "It's important for children to see animals physically and not just in books."

Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa