Actor and human rights activist George Clooney made a quiet visit to a volatile border region between Sudan and South Sudan last week ahead of giving evidence to the US Senate.
Mr Clooney made the dangerous crossing from South Sudan into Sudan’s Nuba Mountains region, Jonathan Hutson, a spokesman for the anti-genocide group the Enough Project, said. Clooney saw burned-out villages and met with residents forced to seek shelter in caves because of aerial attacks by Sudan’s military.
Violence has flared along the Sudan-south Sudan border since south Sudan seceded last year, and some experts worry the conflict could grow. South Sudan shut down its oil industry this year after accusing Sudan of stealing its oil.
Mr Clooney will pass on what he found at today’s hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee which will examine the oil dispute and the limited access aid groups are being given to Sudan’s southern regions.
Aid experts say people who live in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains will soon face a hunger crisis because they haven’t been able to plant crops amid fear of attacks from Sudan.
Mr Clooney travelled to what is now known as south Sudan in January 2011 as the region cast votes to secede from Sudan.
Alcatraz at King’s Cross
A hotel billed as one of the toughest in the UK has opened its doors to the public.
Hotel Alcatraz, in Field Street, King’s Cross, London, has been created to mark the launch of JJ Abrams’ new drama series of the same name on UKTV’s entertainment channel Watch, a spokesman for the hotel said.
He said the four-room residence has been modelled on San Francisco’s infamous prison – a faithful reproduction of the penitentiary during its heyday, before it closed in 1963. Hotel Alcatraz has been designed with materials from the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy in San Francisco.
Quartet takes to the sky
A string quartet will take to the skies and perform in four helicopters as part of the premiere of a classic modern opera.
German avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen’s work Mittwoch aus Licht, which also includes two choirs and electronic and acoustic music, will be performed by the Birmingham Opera Company as part of the London 2012 Festival.
The August performances, at a disused chemical plant in the city centre, will be the first time the five-hour work had been performed completely.
New magicway to shop
The way people shop for clothes is being transformed with a “Magic Mirror”.
The mirror is a TV screen that lets customers view a real-time image of themselves with digital outfits superimposed on their bodies.
Shoppers can switch their outfits at a wave of their hand and save time popping in and out of changing rooms.
Users will be also be able to post the images instantly to Facebook for feedback from friends before they purchase.
The new technology is being used at the Trafford Centre in Greater Manchester, with plans for it to be installed in other shopping centres across the UK.