Sudan's government says it will abide by a Security Council resolution that paves the way for the United Nations and the African Union to deploy 26,000 peacekeepers to the region. Yet as Nick Wadhams reports from our East Africa bureau in Nairobi, the dominant rebel group in Darfur has its doubts about Khartoum's commitment.

A group of agricultural scientists in African says tropical ants commonly found in Africa could save the continent up to 60 percent of its high value crops such as fruits and nuts that are consistently destroyed by fruit flies.

International health volunteers make a small yet significant contribution in sub-Saharan Africa, according to research published in the online open access journal Human Resources for Health. Medical volunteer numbers remain low, and resources are shifting to local capacity building initiatives.

New research published in the journal Nature (19 July) has proved the single origin of humans theory by combining studies of global genetic variations in humans with skull measurements across the world. The research, at the University of Cambridge and funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), represents a final blow for supporters of a multiple origins of humans theory.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pledged to push for action to facilitate the speedy deployment of peacekeepers to the troubled Darfur region of Sudan, while at the same time moving decisively to foster a lasting political settlement to the conflict there.

The U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) says it is concerned about the large and growing number of children in Burundi who are victims of sexual violence. UNICEF says few cases are ever prosecuted and is calling for urgent reform of Burundi's judicial system. Lisa Schlein has more for VOA from UNICEF headquarters in Geneva.

The United Nations is considering a proposal to set up a joint U.N.-European Union peacekeeping force to help protect Darfur refugees in Eastern Chad.

Maize streak viruses (MSV), geminiviruses that can destroy most of a maize crop, are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and adjacent Indian Ocean islands where they are transmitted by leafhoppers in the genus Cicadulina. Maize can supply 50% of the caloric intake in sub-Saharan Africa but, in certain years, a farmer’s entire crop can be wiped out.

The UN says more than a million children each year die from malnutrition. Poor nutrition is one of many factors that weaken a child’s immune system, making it harder to recover from malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia. Every year, these three diseases kill up to five million children under five years of age around the world. But now health experts have a cheap and efficient tool to include in their arsenal against malnutrition – a paste that’s tasty, easy to eat, and high in nutrients.

Three documentaries featured at the annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York this year aim to put a human face on the issues and crises facing Africa today. From New York, VOA's Mona Ghuneim has the story.

A recent report by the NGO Save the Children paints a mixed picture of global efforts to protect the lives of mothers and children under five. And, while some African countries have made impressive gains in recent years, others ranked near the bottom of the 140-country survey. From Washington, VOA reporter William Eagle has the story.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and France have donated nearly $400,000 worth of anti-malaria drugs to Liberia in a move immediately welcomed by the Government.