A judge in Chad has charged nine French nationals with abduction and fraud after the organisation they work for tried to fly more than 100 African children to Europe.

Intervoice, Inc. (Nasdaq: INTV) today announced that it has received an order for a Voice SMS application from a large East African wireless service provider in partnership with a leading European network equipment provider.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization is calling for a renewed commitment to guarantee the right to food for the 850 million hungry people in the world. A ceremony was held at FAO headquarters in Rome to mark World Food Day 2007.

Chad's government has imposed a state of emergency in its eastern regions bordering Sudan's Darfur and in its remote desert north following recent ethnic clashes that killed at least 20 people.

In the Democratic republic of Congo, the leader of the rebel National Congress for the People’s Defense (NCPD) said his forces would not be able to abide by President Joseph Kabila’s ultimatum of laying down their weapons today (Monday).

A new report sponsored by the United Nations and the World Bank says progress has been slow at reducing the number of deaths worldwide from pregnancy and childbirth. The report says more than one-half million women a year continue to die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. It says 99 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Officials at the United Nations say they would like to review disaster management policy in West Africa, where recent floods have killed hundreds and left hundreds of thousands displaced. They say the floods have shown more focus should be put on long-term solutions rather than just quick fixes. One idea is using micro-credit to help avert future problems.

As Somalia’s prime minister was fighting for his job Wednesday ahead of a no-confidence vote scheduled for later this week, at least eight were killed in fresh violence.

From 135,000 to 90,000 years ago tropical Africa had megadroughts more extreme and widespread than any previously known for that region, according to new research.

Ethiopia is pledging to send 5,000 troops to Darfur to be part of a new United Nations / African Union peacekeeping force. The pledge comes amid Ethiopia’s involvement in Somalia and growing tensions with neighboring Eritrea.

Australia has announced a temporary freeze on the settlement of refugees from Africa, including those from Sudan's Darfur region. Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews says the refugees had trouble integrating into Australian society, and that refugee requests from other parts of the world, such as Iraq and Burma, are being given higher priority at the moment.

African Union officials are investigating who attacked an AU peacekeeping base in Sudan's Darfur region and killed at least 10 African soldiers.