James Copnall
@JamesCopnall
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Presenter Newsday @bbcworldservice . Book on Sudans: A Poisonous Thorn in our Hearts. Ex-BBC Correspondent in Sudans, Ivory Coast, Morocco. Usual disclaimers
Joined October 2011
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A friend in Khartoum sent this, recorded a little earlier. Gives a sense of the clashes and how terrifying it must be right now.
#Sudan
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This is the 4th bridge across the lagoon in Abidjan - officially opened today. Part of the billion dollars of infrastructure development linked in some way to AfCoN - and aimed at reducing traffic, which has become quite a problem as the city grows.
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Leaving Khartoum after an amazing week. Seems like the protesters still have some unfinished business...
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Was sent this video by a friend with a drone in central Khartoum - big big numbers out for today’s protest against
#Sudancoup
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I love Sudanese coffee - and hospitality. A total stranger paid for these two then walked off.
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A radio version of this interview with Bola Ahmed Tinubu
@officialABAT
by
@okwoche
coming up on Newsday in an hour or so
One of Nigeria's presidential candidates, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, spoke to Focus On Africa and told
@okwoche
about:
👉🏾 Why Nigerians should vote for him in the upcoming elections.
👉🏾 What his main priorities are.
👉🏾 The source of his wealth.
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Some personal news: I’m delighted to say that after a couple of years ‘on loan’ there, I’m joining Newsday the
@bbcworldservice
breakfast programme permanently as a presenter.
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So important to be reminded of the very best of human nature - which you see everywhere in
#Sudan
- even when (understandably) the news and social media is full of horrors right now
Every village & town we passed thru people would come out with their kerkade (hibiscus) juice and cold water for the “Khartoum travellers”. Humbling experience cause they don’t have much but were offering plenty.
Why would I leave this?
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“Churches and mosques are full every night, with people praying for this war to end” - daily life in Mekelle in Tigray as the war continues
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This is
@bbcbola
’s last ever Newsday (I can’t believe I’m writing this). She will be missed! Plenty of tributes coming up over the next 3 hours
@bbcworldservice
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A suggestion for
#Sudan
, sent in to Newsday by an anonymous texter: Burhan and Hemedti should follow an 18th century model and fight a duel to the death - just them, nobody else involved, sparing their country the devastation it's facing now...
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This is desperately sad. It was one of the pleasures and privileges of my career to work for Focus on Africa, and I know just how many across the continent will miss hearing it coming on live.
After over 60 yrs
#BBCFocusonAfrica
📻 will cease to be live on the airwaves. From Monday it'll be a podcast.
I started in the days of the late greats, Chris Bickerton & Kwabena Mensah and I treasure being part of the teams that lovingly produced Focus for millions over the years
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Some personal news: I’m delighted to say that for the next few months I’ll be presenting Newsday on
@bbcworldservice
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Heading to
#Sudan
to see what’s changed - and what hasn’t - since
@SudanPMHamdok
& his government came in.
#BBCNewsday
will be live from Khartoum this Friday.
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This is both extraordinary, and quite typical
90-year-old Omer Hadra opened up his home to protect protesters during anti-gov’t demonstrations in Sudan. He says his house was a constant target for security forces.
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The world is not paying nearly enough attention to the horrendous war in
#Sudan
. If you’re in the UK, at 11am today on Radio 4 you can listen to a documentary I made about the conflict, with the thoughts of
@KholoodKhair
@hajooj
@WillCarter_NRC
@AndrewmitchMP
& others.
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On my way to
#Khartoum
to witness
#SudanUprising
first hand. I haven’t been to Sudan since July... quite a few changes since then!
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My WhatsApp is filling up with distressing images of people apparently killed today in the demonstrations in
#Sudan
- and heartbreaking pictures of kids far too young to die
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A pleasure to talk to
@mreazi
with
@KarnieSharp
this morning on Newsday
Early start today on
@BBCAfrica
talking Agriculture, Climate Change, Rural Development etc via the work with
@IFAD
&
@DFID_UK
I’m super fired up!!!!!
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You can listen to my documentary
#Sudan
: the War the World Forgot here: - featuring
@KholoodKhair
@hajooj
@WillCarter_NRC
and others not on X.
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Very sorry indeed to hear that Alfred Taban the veteran South Sudanese journalist has passed away. He was the BBC Sudan correspondent for many years, and then ran the Khartoum Monitor and subsequently the Juba Monitor, before becoming an MP.
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Norway's Ambassador to Sudan
@NorwayAmbSudan
tells
#Newsday
the war is being fuelled by foreign countries, and the weapons used now are not the same as at the beginning of the conflict. He says stopping foreign arms deliveries is one way of halting the war.
#KeepEyesonSudan
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#Sudan
: in this war, women are targeted, abused and dehumanised. Listen to
@Halayalkarib
’s powerful interview here:
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Hey
#SouthSudan
&
#SSOT
I snapped this
@arsenal
on Wednesday, up on the new artwork around the stadium. Nice to see you represented!
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A huge day in
#Sudan
as protesters want to send (another!) powerful signal that they want civilian rule and nothing else. It feels like the photo below - from the sit-in in Khartoum a couple of years ago - is still very relevant
Leaving Khartoum after an amazing week. Seems like the protesters still have some unfinished business...
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A
#SudanUprising
protester says 'security + militia' tried to break up sit-in outside the military HQs in Khartoum. She fled, then returned. Military intervened to protect protesters. Interview coming up on Newsday
@bbcworldservice
shortly
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Live on
#Newsday
with the great
@RedaAllali
talking
#TeamMorocco
, identity, and what the World Cup has changed. On
@bbcworldservice
on your 📻 now
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Salah Gosh, Sudan's former spy chief, now under a US travel ban. Intriguing given he was often praised by US officials for sharing intelligence
Today I publicly designated Salah Gosh & his family members under Section 7031(c) for his involvement in gross violations of
#HumanRights
in
#Sudan
. Those designated are ineligible for entry into the U.S. We will continue to hold accountable those who violate human rights.
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In the southern Italian village of Camini, I met an Eritrean man who had just restored and bought a house. He didn’t want his picture taken - but was happy to show this detail of his work: the coffee pot embedded in the wall, a permanent reminder of his homeland.
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What a great loss. He worked tirelessly for peace for the people of South Sudan. A wonderful life. Rest well.
IT'S WITH THE DEEPEST OF HEARTS THAT THE SOUTH SUDAN COUNCIL OF CHURCHES LEARNT OF THE PASSING OF HIS LORDSHIP EMERITUS BISHOP PARIDE TABAN OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH FOLLOWING A SHORT ILLNESS IN NAIROBI KENYA. HE WAS 87 AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH.
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My 4 year old just looked at the weather forecast and said “Is this Sudan?”
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Aisha Musa is one of the most powerful people in
#Sudan
- as one of the 11 members of the Sovereign Council. An interview on life with the military, economic challenges & how women can make a difference
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A short 🧵about small daily pleasures (much needed, these days). My dad was an artist. He died more than a decade ago, but I finally have space to put up some of his paintings.
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Sudanese protesters now attempting to hold a sit-in in central Khartoum - like the one which overthrew Omar al Bashir in 2019. Protesters from Omdurman have been able to get over the blocked bridges into Khartoum. All this from a resistance committee spokesperson live on Newsday
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Good morning! Just arrived in
#Cameroon
- in good time for
#AFCON2021
- look out (listen!) for our Newsday programmes from here in the next few days on
@bbcworldservice
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On
#Tigray
, Fesseha Tessema who advises TPLF leadership claims to Newsday
@bbcworldservice
that the Ethiopian federal troops have all left Tigray - but Eritrean + Amhara troops remain so fighting likely to continue.
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#Sudan
's foreign minister
@mariam_sadig
tells us on Newsday that the military are 'besieged' and their coup is on shaky ground - and no civilian politicians will agree to work with them.
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Friends in
#Sudan
were telling me since the failed coup attempt a few weeks ago they expected another, more serious attempt. And here we are…
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I’m in Italy this week to report on migration. And this picture is an unexpected consequence of people crossing the Med: couscous & octopus, cooked by Libyan & Italian chefs. (It’s delicious.)
#Newsday
will be live from southern Italy on Thursday & Friday
@bbcworldservice
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For years the world’s newest nation
#SouthSudan
didn’t have a female national basketball team. South Sudanese
@WNBA
star
@adutbulgak
dreamed of playing for her country. Now she has. You can listen to her pride + excitement here:
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AKWABA or welcome spelt out in lights on a bridge over the lagoon in Abidjan, as the city - and Côte d’Ivoire gears up to host
#AFCON2023
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Peter Biar Ajak was released this weekend. He spoke to Newsday
@bbcworldservice
about his time in jail, why he was locked up, and why he will keep campaigning for change in South Sudan. You can listen here: cc
@AjakPeter
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So to understand the past and the current challenges in
#Sudan
, I spoke to Mahjoub Mohamed Salih again - you can listen here:
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Retweeting this purely for 'held your tyres like a jealous lover'
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I’m in
#Senegal
this week - we will be broadcasting Newsday live from Dakar on Friday morning, as the country gears up for a delayed and controversial election. (You may have a more modern radio - snapped this pic ⬇️ at the Cheikh Anta Diop museum).
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And there it is: Amadou Ba has conceded, and Bassirou Diomaye Faye will be
#Senegal
’s next president - a stunning first round victory.
DAKAR, March 25 (
@Reuters
) - Senegal's ruling coalition candidate Amadou Ba has called his rival, opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, to concede defeat in Sunday's presidential election, government spokesman Abdou Karim Fofana told journalists on Monday.
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For those asking, the audio from Sanna Arman's interview (before her father
@Yassir_Arman
was released), including her poem and thoughts on the Sudanese revolution is here:
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On Newsday just now Siddig Tawer - a civilian member of the Sovereign Council in
#Sudan
until the coup - tells us Gen Burhan is trying to bring back the Bashir regime, and the struggle now is for a fully civilian government - not a military/civilian hybrid
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I haven’t had a chance to see much of the rugby World Cup but this has filled me in nicely on how South Africa got to the final 😂
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A dire warning from
@MSF
that the hunger crisis in
#Sudan
is even worse than thought, as the war nears its first anniversary. The report by
@BBCBarbaraPlett
leads
#Newsday
@bbcworldservice
today - and we will have a special edition of the programme on Monday about a year of war.
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Zakaria coming on for Switzerland! Second player of South Sudanese origin (after Denmark’s Pione Sisto) to play in this World Cup
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Early contender for my favourite stadium: Limbe, perched between the hills and the sea
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Not quite sure why I’m looking so glum - I’m actually super excited to be back in Côte d’Ivoire for the Africa Cup of Nations.
#Newsday
will be live from here on Friday and early next week
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A pleasure to talk to
@adutbulgak
on Newsday just now on her hopes for a
#SouthSudan
women's national team, why she turned down an offer to play for Angola, and her journey from Kakuma refugee camp to global basketball star. I'll post the audio shortly
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A personal story, mixed with history and culture, about
#Khartoum
(and
#Sudan
) before the avalanche of corpses, shell casings and devastation: by the great
@ikushkush
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Houses looted and re-looted, museums targeted, cultural centres destroyed: as
@ReemWrites
shows the war in
#Sudan
is destroying the country’s past as well as its present.
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#Sudan
: One million refugees, 3.4 million internally displaced, in just 4 months of conflict.
@WillCarter_NRC
explained to us on
#Newsday
how people are suffering + the challenges of delivering humanitarian aid - as the world seems to be looking the other way
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Eid Mubarak to everyone celebrating, and particularly to those in Sudan, may it bring some peace.
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Just spoke to Siddig Yousif, one of the FFC negotiators. Some of his points follow: Sovereign Council: 5 civilians, 5 military, plus one civilian to be decided on by both parties. Could be but not necessarily a retired officer.
#Sudan
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She’s back! Lovely to have
@bbcBola
back in the studio for
#Newsday
@bbcworldservice
after 16 months working from home.
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My
#Sudan
+
#SouthSudan
book, A Poisonous Thorn in our Hearts, in good bookshops near you, or from
@HurstPublishers
:
http://t.co/fBNAGddqRh
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Huge popular dismissal of military rule on Friday in
#Sudan
. Military respond this morning. Pretty sure the people will make their feelings known again now
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Today the great Lawrence Pollard presented Newsday for the last time - he'll be missed
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I lived for years in various bits of West Africa but never made it to
#Nigeria
. So I’m delighted to be heading to Lagos (for the elections)
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Allez, one more Senegalese food diary for the road. Yassa - chicken in an onion sauce
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My Juba people: this is Limbe in Cameroon, but that shipwreck reminds me of something…
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Listening to
@obyezeks
live on Newsday on the Katsina abductions the strength of feeling and outrage could not be clearer
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Great to speak to
@AkauJambo
today about South Sudanese comedy, laughing at things others wouldn’t, and his international comedy festival in Juba
@jubaicf
. The interview should run on Newsday
@bbcworldservice
on Friday am.
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I asked Siddig Yousif how he could convince protesters it was a good deal given the continuing presence of the military: he said 'it will be a hard road' but we will try to convince them - and he believes it's the end of military rule in
#Sudan
.
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The late, great Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban was a humble ‘warrior for peace’ in
#SouthSudan
. Listen to the tribute paid by Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala here:
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My day: out with my lovely 1 year old daughter. Nice lady in the supermarket asks “are you the grandad or the dad?” I’m 43. So possible - but 🤦♂️ Lockdown ages you I guess...
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From a friend in Khartoum - scenes of one of the protests against the military coup
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By the brilliant
@hiba_morgan
- reporting and analysis and the personal cost of this war in
#Sudan
Al Jazeera correspondent Hiba Morgan tells us how the conflict in Sudan has affected millions of people, including her family ⤵️
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Speaking now on Newsday, Dr AbdelRahim Mohamed Ibrahim in El Obeid,
#Sudan
: he says his hospital has reported 1000+ gunshot wounds, & 100+ deaths. But many more could not reach the hospital because of the fighting
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A doctor writes: the risks medical staff face in
#SudanUprising
& why many are at the heart of the protests
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We have been made very welcome here in
#Senegal
, covering these vital elections and the country’s fifth president. Just doing some last radio hits then heading home. But of course we’ll keep following.
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One way of understanding more about the horrifying war in
#Sudan
is through its writers. In this audio essay
@fatinabbas
chooses a starter list, spanning decades of history in three brilliant books. Direct link:
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My five year old: “Daddy, why don’t you play in the premier league?”
Me: “Well, I’m not good enough.”
5yo: “Yes you are!”
And he’s seen me play.
#TheWisdomOfChildren
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As promised, you can listen to
@adutbulgak
on the need for a
#SouthSudan
women's basketball team, rejecting Angola, + her journey to global basketball stardom here:
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#Sudan
: famine, fighting and fear. And also the hope provided by the neighbourhood committees/emergency response rooms. If you’re trying to catch up on what’s happening in Sudan, this is an attempt to explain:
You can listen to my documentary
#Sudan
: the War the World Forgot here: - featuring
@KholoodKhair
@hajooj
@WillCarter_NRC
and others not on X.
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Hadrian’s wall? The Great Wall of China? No - a Burri barricade! Pretty solid and sizeable given how little time they must have had to put it up
This morning : khartoum/ Buri area.
#Sudan
#help_prime_minister_of_Sudan
#SudanCoup
#Oct30March
@amalhamdanelex
@paivikh
@_hudsonc
@atJenny
@moehash1
@StevendeJong10
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From lemon with mint in Khartoum to a bitter lemon with a view. Hello Juba!
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