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  • Hacker News
  • Western governments prefer to earn a day's income than sacrifice a whole African tribe since the last centuries up until now. So, no wonders Sudan felt in a hell hole where intertwined interests take place. Only the public outcry through mass media can stop a genocide which in this case does not sell. After a few years the balance of power will settle and may be a movie will be produced, like Hotel Rwanda.
  • This is truly horrible and I don't want to detract from the original aim of the article, but can we just establish that 'visible' from space doesn't really mean much anymore given the resolution of satellites? My garage is also visible from space, doesn't make it worthy of a headline.
  • This is horrible but I feel like the "visible" from space headline is becoming increasingly less impressive as satellite imagery becomes more impressive.

    You could say, I drink so much coffee it's visible from space and it's literally just a coffee mug sitting on a park bench.

  • So strange that I haven’t seen global coverage of this crisis on a daily basis, or demonstrations for “Free Sudan” on campuses. If anyone has a theory about why this humanitarian disaster doesn’t receive the same attention as Gaza, which didn't have such events, please feel free to share.
  • Sadly, yet another bloody chapter of the Abu Dhabi (al Nahyan) - Doha (al Thani) feud that has been going on since the 2011 coup attempt [0], which itself is part of a longer multi-generational blood feud going on between the royal families [4]. The Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, and Balkans are all burning because of this saga [1].

    The UAE backs the RSF [2] (formerly known as the Janjaweed of the Darfur Genocide), and Qatar supports the Sudanese Army [3]

    [0] - https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/united-arab-emirates-pala...

    [1] - https://lobelog.com/doha-and-abu-dhabis-incompatible-visions...

    [2] - https://www.wsj.com/world/how-u-a-e-arms-bolstered-a-sudanes...

    [3] - https://www.africaintelligence.com/eastern-africa-and-the-ho...

    [4] - https://gulfif.org/changing-alignments-in-the-lower-gulf/

  • You think the Abu Dhabi Qatari rivalry began in 2011? 1700s more like it.
  • > The Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, and Balkans are all burning because of this saga

    Balkans, you say?

  • The bargain the US has made with Qatar continues to prove itself as conceptually flawed and generally terrible. While the UAE deserves plenty of blame here, the Qataris are as usual up to their elbows in other people’s blood.
  • Just enough funding to view suffering. No funding to end it.
  • What do you want to do? Send in troops from somewhere else to die too?
  • UAE backed RSF's doing.
  • There is another article on that topic: <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/31/sudans-latest-...>
    by wslh
  • I'm constantly impressed that we are a civilisation that can look down from space and see this kind of barbarism.
  • It's a libertarian paradise.
  • Yes, the ISS as a sadistic Christof
  • Can we verify those images are not edited or generated?
  • “The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed.”
  • Having a foot in both the future and the past. Or at least I wish it were in the past.
  • "Visible from space" used to mean "by astronauts". If high-resolution sensors are allowed, then the term applies to things like a tree and a car, and doesn't signify much.

    Well, maybe it signifies that nobody wants to go and take photos in person.

  • Sudan is the 3rd largest producer of gold in Africa but it remains the poorest country in Africa because the companies that exploit those resources are never Sudanese.

    The RSF got their weapons by acting as mercenaries for the UAE to fight against the Houthis in Yemen. Fighting as a mercenary is pretty much the only reliable source of income for many people in the country.

    by culi
  • ... unfortunately what matters is that gold is a curse. Colonialism hundreds of years ago froze extractive oppressive hierarchies, and even though many places gained independence the new elite mostly took the already in-place system and started to run it to benefit themselves.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Origins_of_Comparativ...

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse

    by pas
  • Modern Belgian congo
  • From wikipedia :

    On examination of photos and videos of weapons used in the conflict that were posted on social media, the rights group identified that companies registered in China, Iran, Russia, Serbia, and the UAE were associated with the weapons provided to RSF.[96] Human Rights Watch reviewed images of show crates with markings indicating they were manufactured in 2020 and initially acquired by the UAE Armed Forces in through a contract with Adasi, a subsidiary of UAE-based weapons manufacturer Edge Group. A January 2024 report by the UN Panel of Experts on Sudan deemed the UAE's alleged support to the RSF as "credible"

    According to Business Insider, "The two generals helped Russian President Vladimir Putin exploit Sudan's gold resources to help buttress Russian finances against Western sanctions and fund his war in Ukraine."[108]

    by prox
  • Just wanna plug the most thorough and useful video I've seen on the history of this conflict. The US, Russia, and many other players are more heavily involved in this conflict than is often discussed in media. It breaks down the specific ways many international players are profiting from the conflict and helps makes sense of the motives driving it

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqIMES53rsY

    by culi
  • It's not a conflict, it's a genocide
  • > ...the United Arab Emirates (UAE) accused of backing the RSF with supplies and mercenaries...

    And also helping to launder Hemedti's gold via Dubai. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/conflict-resources/ex...

  • How come dubai hasn’t experienced any sanctions yet? They’ve been laundering everything for ages, esp Russian oil. How are they so immune to this?
  • China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Turkey, (EDIT: the UK, indirectly) and Egypt have each also supplied weapons into this conflict [1]. Presumably due to Sudan’s position on the Red Sea. (China and the UAE seem to be alone in supplying the RSF, though.)

    [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanese_civil_war_(2023%E2%80...

  • by wslh