Darfur

They range from Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor of the Hague-based International Criminal Court, to Adam Sterling, a grass-roots organizer first seen hawking leaflets to apathetic strollers in Santa Monica, Calif. Success and failure in Darfur's life-or-death context generate excruciating tension. In this movie, the attempt of a World Food Program director, Pablo Recalde, to run delivery trucks through volatile territory sparks more nail-biting anxiety than any starship battle in a space opera.

BEOWULF -- Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins and Ray Winstone star in the Norse legend of the warrior who battles Grendel and his mother. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN -- A hunter stumbles upon dead bodies, a stash of heroin and more than $2 million in cash. MR. MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM -- Dustin Hoffman plays the mysterious proprietor of a magic toy shop. JIMMY CARTER MAN FROM PLAINS -- The story of the former president's book tour to promote Palestine: Peace or Apartheid. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA -- Lovers wait a half-century to reunite in the adaptation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel of the same name.

Social activists claiming victory at mega-investor Warren E. Buffett's recent sell-off of shares in the Chinese oil company believed to be financing genocide in Darfur may be overestimating their influence. Mr. Buffett became the second-richest person in the world because he has excellent business instincts. Selling most of his holdings in PetroChina last week was good business - he got out in time to make a handsome profit. But if market acumen alone dictated Mr. Buffett's decision, that may send an even stronger signal than a protest - and one likely to draw more attention from Chinese officials, who should be more aggressively using their oil trade influence with the Sudanese regime in Khartoum to bring the murderous violence in Darfur to an end. PetroChina's share price has been buoyed over the past few days by the surge in the oil market.

The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing are nearly a year away, but for China and Sudan, the games have already begun. As China preens in the world spotlight, its leaders have proved unusually susceptible to suggestions that Beijing should no longer be involved in the nasty business of financing genocide in Darfur through oil trade with Khartoum. The small steps China has taken to lean on Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir are significant, but not nearly enough to keep pace with the rate at which Darfur is descending into a deeper level of hellish chaos.

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Armed men killed at least 10 African Union soldiers and seriously wounded seven in the deadliest strike against peacekeeping troops in the troubled Darfur region since they were deployed in 2004. A rebel faction in Darfur was thought to have carried out the assault, which began shortly after dark Saturday. Rebel groups had been fighting Sudanese government troops in the area in recent days. African Union officials said they could not comment on the suspected identity of the gunmen until an investigation is complete.

KETZIOT, Israel -- Two weeks ago, Bedouin smugglers pointed Ria Daou toward a mountain in Egypt's vast Sinai desert and told her she would find Israel on the other side. For Daou, driven by war from southern Sudan to a desperate life in Cairo's slums, the Jewish state glistened in the distance like gold. Israel, she believed, would provide her with a job, health care and, despite conflicts of its own, some sense of peace. And, at first, it appeared that all the stories she had heard about Israel would come true.

EL FASHER, Sudan -- For a man accused of masterminding massacres, Ahmad Harun seems quite comfortable in the place he is suspected of helping to destroy. He strolls around the grassy compound belonging to the local governor in Sudan's deeply troubled Darfur region, embracing Arab tribal leaders, soldiers and officials who have come to hear the president. Harun, 42, was in charge of the region's security during the height of the attacks on farm villages that sent millions fleeing their homes in 2003 and 2004.

The United Nations Security Council's decision last week to send 26,000 peacekeepers to Darfur could mean a turning point in the long and brutal conflict there, but not necessarily in a positive direction. In order to move toward peace and stability, the ruling regime in Khartoum must make good on its promises to allow the blue helmets into the country; rebel groups in Darfur must join together in a unified force to negotiate a comprehensive settlement; and the Sudanese government must live up to the terms of the north-south peace agreement reached two years ago, which appears to be unraveling.

UNITED NATIONS -- The Security Council authorized yesterday an extensive United Nations peacekeeping operation in Darfur aimed at protecting civilians and aid workers in the violence-racked region of Sudan. The council voted 15-0 to begin sending a joint U.N.-African Union force of up to 26,000 troops and police to Darfur before the end of the year to quell the violence that has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced more than 2 million in the past four years. It will take a year to muster the full force, and the cost will be about $2 billion, said peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno, who added that a substantial number of troops will arrive in Darfur before year's end. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon called the resolution "historic and unprecedented," and said it would help "improve the lives of the people of the region and close this tragic chapter in Sudan's history."

PARIS -- They came, they met, they agreed that more must be done, but a gathering here aimed at solving the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region ended yesterday with little visible progress. "We really must redouble our efforts, and I think that that was the spirit of today's conference," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at a brief news conference after the day of closed meetings. "The point here was to take stock of where we are and to make sure that we are doing everything we can."