George Clooney has been granted a private meeting with US President Barack Obama next week to discuss the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan.

An Irish ultra distance runner today became the first athlete to crack the world’s ultimate endurance race – seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.

SENDING in troops to protect refugees and aid agencies at the very heart of a humanitarian crisis may seem like an obvious move, but for Ireland and Europe it has been a very controversial one.

Defence Minister Willie O’Dea is due to visit Irish troops serving in Chad tomorrow despite weekend clashes in the troubled country.

IRISH troops arriving in Chad face a race against time to establish their presence before the rainy season turns their baking desert home into a sea of mud.

Pope Benedict XVI has called on faithful not to forget the wars ravaging some African countries, and has appealed to politicians to end fighting in Somalia and Burundi and put a stop to the “endless tragedy” in Darfur.

CHAD’S President Idriss Deby yesterday granted an official pardon for six French aid workers jailed in December for abducting children from the landlocked central African country, state radio said.

The Defence Forces were tonight preparing a major logistical operation to transport supplies and equipment to the elite Army Ranger unit in Chad.

Chad rebels said today they withdrew voluntarily from Chad’s capital overnight, but it was unclear if they succumbed to the force of helicopter gunships and tanks deployed by government forces.

Chad state radio went off the air today as rebels advanced into the capital, opposition leader Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh said.

George Clooney has been named a United Nations Messenger Of Peace in honour of his humanitarian work.

Militants in Nigeria’s restive oil region today invited actor George Clooney to visit the area and asked for United Nations intervention in the conflict.

Militants in Nigeria's restive oil region have today invited actor George Clooney to visit the area and asked for United Nations intervention in the conflict.

A SENIOR officer with the African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur in western Sudan was attacked yesterday by gunmen who seriously wounded his driver, the force said in a statement.

SIX French humanitarian workers accused in Chad of trying to smuggle 103 African children to Europe will go on trial on December 21 after authorities speeded up the handling of their case, lawyers said last night.

Soldiers and rebels have both claimed to have killed several hundred of their opponents in combat yesterday in eastern Chad in what may turn out to be the heaviest fighting since rebels tried to take the capital N’Djamena last year.

British pop star Mika was a hit at the World Music Awards in Monaco early today.

Israel said today it would turn away refugees from the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan in an effort to stop the flow of Africans across Israel’s southern border with Egypt.

GOAL chief executive John O'Shea has blasted the international community over its attitude to the Darfur region of Sudan.

Trócaire is calling on the incoming government to push for stronger EU sanctions against Sudan.

AN 18-year-old waitress with dreams of stardom landed the gig of a lifetime last night — singing for George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

A documentary produced and narrated by George Clooney will close a Monaco film festival later this month.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today backed an initiative by Italy to push for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty.

About 150,000 people have had to flee their homes in north-west Central African Republic because of fighting in the region, a UN aid group said today.

Sudan has agreed in principle to allow a joint United Nations and African Union peacekeeping force into Darfur.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today opens an international meeting in Ethiopia to discuss the situation in Darfur and to push again for UN peacekeepers to replace a beleaguered African force in Sudan’s troubled western region.

THE National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF) is to face pressure to sell off €30 million of investments in companies that deal with the Sudanese government.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern is due to meet government officials in Sudan today on the first day of a week-long trip to Africa.

Actress Mia Farrow insists her return to acting will not interfere with her efforts as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Chad broke off diplomatic relations with neighbouring Sudan today, escalating tensions between the two African nations a day after a deadly rebel attack on the capital ended with at least 350 people dead.

FORMER President Mary Robinson yesterday launched an Irish initiative to tackle global violence against women and children.

Dissident rebels have released 36 members of an African Union team, including an American monitor, who were kidnapped in Sudan’s powder keg western Darfur region, an AU spokesman said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is trying to shore up one fragile peace accord in Africa while preserving hopes for another in the Middle East.

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

The UN now estimates that about 180,000 people have died in Sudan’s western Darfur region as a result of violence, disease or malnutrition since October 2003 – ,more than twice the previous estimate.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has proposed sending a 10,130-strong force to monitor a peace deal ending Sudan’s civil war, and warned of the “hugely complex task” that would await the mission, according to a report released today.

The chief executive of Irish aid agency GOAL has launched a scathing attack on the United Nations for failing to describe the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan as genocide.

The Irish Government has welcomed the signing of a peace deal between the Sudanese authorities and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, a rebel group that controls much of the south of the country.

Travis frontman Fran Healy considers himself lucky to be alive after a convoy he was meant to join was ambushed by militants in Sudan last week.

Travis frontman Fran Healy is horrified by the "unbelievable" conditions people are living in in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.

A galaxy of music stars will re-record Do They Know It’s Christmas? today, 20 years after the birth of the original Band Aid single.

AT least 70,000 people have died in refugee camps in Sudan’s Darfur region since March, said the UN’s health agency today.

Irish aid agency GOAL is hoping to raise €750,000 from its second annual Jersey Day, which takes place in schools and workplaces throughout the country today.