ME and Ophelia

BRITAIN IS SENDING 3,000 TROOPS INTO DARFUR?
The year's top five world stories

Here below are the year's top five world stories. Sudan's Darfur is number five:

1. Iraq - An anti-U.S. insurgency buffeted the country ahead of elections planned for early next year. A scandal erupted over the abuse of Iraqi detainees by U.S. military guards at Abu Ghraib prison.

2. Afghanistan - Afghans flocked to the polls to cast ballots in the nation's first direct democratic election, choosing Hamid Karzai as president. Violence, however, continued.

3. Arafat dies - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died at age 75. His death triggered mourning among Palestinians but also sparked hopes of a breakthrough in efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

4. Global terror - Terrorists were blamed for more attacks. In Madrid, commuter train bombings killed 190. In Russia, a school siege left more than 330, many of them children, dead. In Saudi Arabia, militants targeted foreigners.

5. Sudan's Darfur - Ethnic fighting persisted in Sudan's Darfur region, where tens of thousands of people have lost their lives and 1.8 million have been driven from their homes.

An unsourced news report is flying around the globe right now about Britain preparing to send 3,000 troops into Darfur - see my post today at Sudan Watch that also explains from 1 January British and French begin to prepare for EU Rapid Reaction Force missions. Yay for Britain AND France working together! At least it's bound to generate some great cartoons and laughs. Non?