Human rights groups are asking President-elect Barack Obama to pay early attention to the crisis in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, where government forces have waged a bloody war against militias that some international critics have characterized as genocide. "We've seen the military surge in Iraq. We've seen the development surge that NATO's announced for Afghanistan," said Darfur activist John Prendergast. "What's really needed in Sudan and the broader Horn and East Africa region is a peace surge." Prendergast's ENOUGH organization ...

A pair of Republican congressmen ripped Congressional Black Caucus members for ignoring Cuba's "myriad gross human rights abuses" Thursday, saying this week's caucus trip to the island nation ignored the plight of political prisoners under the Castro regime. They also urged the Obama administration to refrain from easing trade embargo or travel restrictions until the Cuban government releases all "prisoners of conscience," shows greater respect for freedom of religion and speech, and holds "free and fair" elections. The call from ...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday accused the United States of "blocking" Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization. Medvedev also denied claims that he and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin are at odds over how Russia should seek entry into the WTO. He made the remarks at a meeting with members of the Valdai discussion club in Moscow. "Had it not been for the extremely cautious U.S. policy on Russia's accession to the WTO -- or, to be frank, had ...

Increased awareness of the details of a possible compromise health care bill is boosting the comfort level of both Democrats and Republicans, a key Democratic senator claimed Monday. "As senators on and off the committee, [including] Republicans, begin to know more about all of this, their comfort level is starting to come up a bit," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus said. "I do believe that in the end we will have some significant bipartisan support." Baucus, D-Montana, heads a ...

Seth Meyers will remain the lone talking head on the "Saturday Night Live" Weekend Update desk, at least in the near future, according to the comedian. "It looks like for right now, we're going to stick with doing it solo," Meyers, said Monday in New York, as he was getting ready for the show's 35th season premiere on September 26. Meyers, SNL's head writer, hosted the popular sketch alone after Amy Poehler left the show last season. Last ...

Five U.S. service members were killed Saturday in two bombing attacks in Afghanistan, military officials said. Two soldiers died after their patrol struck a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan's Wardak province, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said. The security force said the U.S. military confirmed that the slain troops were Americans. In western Afghanistan, three soldiers were fired upon after they struck a roadside bomb, the U.S. military said. Two died in the initial attack, the third ...

On the final stop of the Tea Party Express, activists marched to the U.S. Capitol on Saturday to protest health care reform, higher taxes and what they see as out-of-control government spending. The conservative advocacy group began its tour in Sacramento, California, and made its way across the country, hosting rallies in about 30 cities. Washington is the final destination. Demonstrators gathered on the west side of the Capitol on Saturday and the crowd stretched for blocks At each ...

Rep. Joe Wilson, who heckled President Obama's speech on health care reform Wednesday night, is a popular, deeply conservative, usually polite Republican with a solid lock on his district, observers say. After the president told members of Congress that the plan would not pay for treating illegal immigrants, boos and hisses could be heard to Obama's left. Wilson's voice rose above the clatter, shouting, "You lie!" Speaking near his Capitol Hill office on Thursday, Wilson called his outburst "spontaneous" and ...

A 44-year-old former drug addict and alcoholic who now works as a minister was the sole person responsible for the brief hijacking Wednesday of a commercial jetliner, a Mexican official said. The suspect, Josmar Flores Pereira, told authorities he hijacked the jet on Wednesday because the date -- September 9, 2009, or 9/9/9 and 666 reversed -- held some significance for him, said Genaro Garcia Luna, the secretary for public safety. "He said that because of that divine reference, he ...

A woman who was convicted at a trial for wearing pants -- clothing deemed indecent by Sudanese authorities -- was released from jail Tuesday after being imprisoned for a day, a United Nations spokesman said. Lubna al-Hussein, a journalist who worked in the media department of the United Nations mission in Sudan, was jailed Monday for refusing to pay a court-ordered fine, her lawyer, Nabil Adib, said. No further details of her release were immediately available. Al-Hussein had faced 40 ...