Fasting Mia Farrow's hunger strike has taken a surprising turn - the actress's 10 days without food has given her energy she never thought she'd have.

The UN is halving emergency food supplies for up to three million people in Darfur because of attacks on its lorries.

US SENATOR Barack Obama said he is conflicted about whether the US should be a full participant in this summer’s Olympics in Beijing because of China’s human rights record.

British foreign secretary David Miliband called today for Sudan to speed up the deployment of peacekeepers to Darfur and to end aerial bombing in the troubled region’s western districts.

CHINA expressed regret yesterday over US film-maker Steven Spielberg’s decision to cut ties with the Beijing Olympics, saying it was unacceptable to link politics to the sporting extravaganza.

President George W Bush said today that the United States will tighten economic sanctions on Sudan and impose new punishments if it fails to take concrete action to stop the bloodshed in Darfur.

The janjaweed militia that is accused of widespread atrocities in Darfur is actively supported by the Sudanese government, US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said today.

George Bush has signed an order that stiffens sanctions on Sudan and its oil industry in an effort to persuade the government to accept UN peacekeepers and stop the killing of civilians in Darfur.

Tony Blair moved to ratchet up the pressure on Sudan today by appealing to EU leaders to demand a halt to the violence in Darfur.

The African Union stepped up pressure on Sudan’s holdout rebels to sign a deal to end Darfur’s three-year civil war and appealed for a stronger African peacekeeping force to monitor implementation of the peace agreement signed by the government and the main rebel group.

Families of the 17 sailors killed in a terrorist attack on the USS Cole can pursue a lawsuit against the government of Sudan, a federal judge has decided.

The US has today pledged an additional €39m to fund the African Union peacekeeping operation in Darfur during a conference of international donors.

The UN Human Rights Commission today passed a resolution condemning Israel’s settlement of the Palestinian territories, saying that Israel should reverse the policy.

After signing an accord that ends the long-running civil war in Sudan’s south, the US expects immediate progress on the crisis in the western region of Darfur, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday.

After signing an accord that ends the long-running civil war in Sudan’s south, the United States expects immediate progress on the crisis in the western region of Darfur, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said today.

The US today accused the Sudanese government Arab militias of genocide against the black African population in the Darfur region.

THE passing of the deadline set by the UN security council for the Sudan government to disarm the Janjaweed exposes yet again the failures of the international community.

The UN envoy to Sudan urged the government to accept an international monitoring force with more than 3,000 troops to help prevent escalating militia attacks in the violence-wracked Darfur region.

A UN report yesterday called for a quick increase in the international monitoring force in Sudan, saying the government has not stopped attacks against civilians or disarmed marauding militias.

African Union monitors are investigating claims that the Sudanese military bombarded a village with helicopter gunships, driving terrified farmers from their homes, just days before the expiry of a United Nations deadline to end the violence in Darfur.

The United Nations begins a three-day fact-finding mission in troubled Darfur today to establish whether the Sudanese government has fulfilled its pledges to improve security and rein in Arab militia accused of months of atrocities.

SUDAN’S government agreed in a breakthrough at peace talks yesterday to allow more African Union troops enter the Darfur region to confine rebel fighters to their bases, a possible precursor to disarmament.

FOR the people of Sudan it remains to be seen whether the visit of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, the last-minute commitments by the government of Sudan to allow access by international organisations and recent steps to arrest some members of the Janjaweed will translate into real action to end the cycle of violence, rape and killing.

Darfur peace talks made little headway today as Sudanese insurgents insisted they would not lay down their weapons until pro-government Arab militiamen stop targeting largely black African civilians in their country’s troubled western region.

A Sudanese minister has rejected any immediate wider role for African Union troops in its troubled Darfur region, saying security in the western region is the responsibility of Sudanese forces.

An African Union force in Sudan’s western Darfur region could help disarm insurgents and pro-government militias accused of killing civilians, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said before the start of AU-sponsored peace talks today between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels.

A top United Nations human rights investigator today released a scathing report blaming the government of Sudan for atrocities against its civilians in the Darfur region.

The UN special envoy to Sudan yesterday said he and Sudan's foreign minister had agreed a plan to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and avert UN sanctions.

WASHINGTON is using the Darfur conflict to topple the Sudanese government, Khartoum’s envoy to the African Union (AU) said yesterday.

United Nations Security Council members say concerns remain over whether to threaten Sudan with sanctions, but hope a vote can be held this week.

THE African Union demanded yesterday that Sudan arrest and prosecute Arab militiamen accused of committing atrocities in western Sudan, but said the violence in the Darfur region did not constitute a genocide.

Relatives of September 11 victims today launched a trillion dollar lawsuit accusing members of the Saudi royal family of helping to finance the al-Qaida network.

The Sudanese government and rebels exchanged accusations over who was responsible for shooting a Red Cross plane and killing its co-pilot today.

The co-pilot of a Red Cross plane flying over southern Sudan was killed today when it came under attack.