Five African Union peacekeepers have been killed in Sudan's embattled Darfur region. The African Union says the attack was unprovoked and an investigation into the incident is under way.

An African Union helicopter was fired upon by unidentified assailants while flying over Darfur, a statement by the AU ceasefire commission said Sunday.

The Chinese government is facing increasing calls for a boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, in part because of Beijing's refusal to condemn the Sudanese government's actions in the war-torn Darfur region.

The State Department> says it is seeking clarification of reports Sudan has softened its opposition to new international peacekeepers for Darfur. The reported change of position by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir came as the Bush administration prepared new sanctions against the Khartoum government.

The U.N. Human Rights Council has unanimously adopted a resolution Friday expressing concern over the situation in Darfur, but it fails to condemn Sudan for its actions. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from U.N. European headquarters in Geneva.

Sudan and the United Nations have signed an agreement to facilitate the travel of humanitarian workers into the war-torn Darfur region. Aid workers had complained they had to undergo lengthy procedures to obtain visas and permits to work in Darfur.

The Sudanese government and the United Nations have signed an agreement Wednesday to boost humanitarian work in the volatile Darfur region. Under the agreement, Khartoum is expected to give better access to aid groups trying to operate in Darfur.

Eight former Darfur rebels and two Sudanese police officers were killed during clashes on Saturday outside of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. Noel King in Khartoum reports that the former rebels of the Sudan Liberation Movement say they were attacked by Sudanese police and call the fighting a grave threat to the Darfur Peace Agreement.

The human rights group Amnesty International says two women have been sentenced to death, by stoning, in Sudan for committing adultery. The sentence has raised questions about Sudan's penal code, based on Islamic Shari'a law, which rights groups say has been used unfairly in the majority-Muslim nation.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair says tough new United Nations sanctions are needed against Sudan's ruling elite in a bid to halt the killing in Darfur. The Prime Minister's call came in a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is currently president of the EU.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says Sudan must accept a strong international peacekeeping force in its war-torn Darfur region. Mr. Ban made the comment in an exclusive VOA interview. Correspondent Peter Heinlein spoke to Mr. Ban, and reports the secretary-general is making preparations for eventual creation of a U.N.-backed hybrid peace mission.