Africa

19 April 2007 -- Experts and activists appearing before a congressional committee have urged President Bush to take stronger action to pressure the Sudanese government to comply with international demands for a 20,000 - strong United Nations and African peacekeeping force for Darfur. VOA's Dan Robinson reports, the calls follow the president's warning to Khartoum that the U.S. will tighten financial and other sanctions if more progress is not forthcoming.    » read more »

19 April 2007 -- Malaria kills more than one million people each year, with nearly all of those deaths children in Africa. As the continent marks Africa Malaria Day, on April 25, new treatments have been developed that could help the international community move closer to reducing deaths by 50 percent in three years.

It is often said laughter may be one of the best medicines. This point is proven in rural Kenya, where crowds of people are drawn to comic skits that also teach people about the dangers of malaria.    » read more »

19 April 2007 -- In a possible sign that fractious sub-clans of Somalia's Hawiye tribe may be uniting to oppose Ethiopia and Somalia's interim government, a top Islamist leader and the deputy prime minister of the interim government have jointly issued an ultimatum for Ethiopian troops to leave Somalia immediately or face an all-out war. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has this report from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.    » read more »

Governor also to sign Senate Bills 45, 49, 111, 112 and 195 into law later today

April 19, 2007 -- Colorado Governor Bill Ritter today signed into law the nation’s toughest targeted divestment bill aimed at ending the suffering in Darfur. HB 1184, supported by a broad bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, cuts the financial ties between the state’s public pension funds and companies that support the Sudanese government responsible for the atrocities in Darfur.    » read more »