蜜芽传媒

Dan Damon introduces personal insights, wit and analysis from 蜜芽传媒 correspondents around the world. In this edition, Orla Guerin reflects on how the citizens of Misrata see their chances as the struggle against Gaddafi grinds on, while James Copnall sees evidence of wounded national pride at the Khartoum Derby in Sudan.

When Gaddafi's army is only 30 minutes away

Across Libya, the Middle East and beyond, there's been plenty of debate recently - is the government of Colonel Gaddafi reaching its last days, or not? Rebel forces are now fighting around the capital Tripoli, threatening the supply route to the West. There are daily rumours of talks between the government and the rebels, mediated by South Africa.

But there have been developments like that before, of course, only for the fighting to go on. For the people of Misrata, that means further deadly bombardment - a continuing nightmare for the families living there, as Orla Guerin reports.

Winners and losers in Sudan's race for power

The separation of Southern Sudan from the North last month - after a referendum in which 99% of southerners said they'd had enought of unity with the North - has left the government in Khartoum with a morale problem. People in Sudan are nervous about what might happen next - will there be more war in the rest of the country, and could international sanctions push the economy into a dive?

No wonder, as James Copnall reports from Khartoum, that the government decided to try to turn the annual Derby horse race into a platform for patriotism.