George Clooney took a break from promoting his latest film Tuesday to meet with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as he continued pressing governments to speak out about China's foreign policy in Sudan.
The two met as the Olympic torch arrived in San Francisco for the only North American stop in the Beijing Olympic torch relay, which has been dogged by human rights protesters in London, Paris and Istanbul.
The protests have been fueled by anger over China's human rights record, its grip on Tibet and China's support for Sudan despite years of bloodshed in the country's western Darfur region.
"I think the protests are good. They've been warned for a while that there was going to be some protests," Clooney told reporters on the red carpet for the British premiere of his new film, "Leatherheads."
Brown praised the 46-year-old actor's role in drawing attention to violence in Darfur.
Only 9,200 troops and police of the 26,000 authorized are on the ground in Darfur, where violent conflict since 2003 has displaced some 4.27 million civilians and left more than 200,000 people dead.
Brown agreed the deployment was moving too slowly, and that humanitarian aid efforts were being hampered by poor access for aid workers.
"The situation in Darfur is unacceptable," Brown said after a meeting with Clooney, announced only after it took place.
"The rebels and government continue to openly flout UNSC (United Nations Security Council) resolutions through attacks on civilians," Brown said in a statement.
Brown praised Clooney's role "in drawing attention to this crisis - this is a humanitarian tragedy of colossal proportions and the world must take note and act."
Clooney - who has been named a U.N. peace envoy - has publicly spoken several times about the crisis in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and about 2.5 million people displaced in three years of fighting between African rebels and government troops allied with Arab militia known as janjaweed.
China is a major trading partner with Sudan, and Beijing has resisted United Nations attempts to force Sudan to accept U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur.
Brown said Britain was working with the international community and others to pressure all sides in the conflict to agree to a cease fire, start peace talks and allow peacekeepers to deploy.
Fighting in Darfur began in 2003 when ethnic African tribesman took up arms, complaining of decades of discrimination by Sudan's Arab-dominated government. The government is accused of unleashing militia forces to commit atrocities against ethnic African communities in the fight with rebel groups.
Long, chewy noodles for slurping and comforting broth for sipping, ramen is Japan's gift to the world of fast food. It's a dish that transcends cultural boundaries, appealing to anyone who craves a bowl of steaming comfort when hunger strikes.
So why did it take so long for San Jose's Japantown to get a ramen shop of its own? Until Ray Kojima and his partner, Art Kunimoto, opened Kumako Ramen last fall in the tiny 24-seat space vacated by Yasu, ramen lovers had to travel to West San Jose or Milpitas.
The two men are Californians who went to Cal and San Jose State respectively before following their fortune to New York, where they owned and operated restaurants in Manhattan. Now they've brought their personal brand of ramen, which they dub "New York style," back to the Golden State as the first step in their plan to launch a new family of ramen shops.
At the heart of their fledgling enterprise is a rich and satisfying broth of chicken and pork, more flavorful than most with its undercurrents of ginger, garlic and chiles. It's thicker and more cloudy than the typical soy-based broth and more complex than the traditional tonkotsu broth made with pork bones.
The noodles, made to the partners' specifications in San Jose with ingredients sent from New York, are too soft for my taste. But they serve mainly as background in the terrific house special, mabo ramen ($10.95), jampacked with ground pork and custard-like tofu
from nearby San Jose Tofu Co. in the Kumako broth.
Shoyu ramen ($7.95) with a simple soy broth is pleasant, and tonkotsu ramen ($9.25) is nice enough, but neither compares with the mabo ramen in the Kumako broth. All the soups are served in large bowls with unusual shallow wooden ladles designed to cool the steaming broth.
Handmade dumplings, or gyoza ($4 for five) - prepared fresh daily with a spicy pork stuffing and pan-fried until delightfully browned and crisp on the bottom - are also a good choice. A nest of mild daikon radish, cut into julienne strips and anointed with a mellow miso dressing, makes an ideal accompaniment.
Kumako Ramen is just what Japantown needed.
Contact Aleta Watson at awatson@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5032.
