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Cease-fire to be announced for Darfur

By TIMES WIRES
Published October 23, 2007

UNITED NATIONS

Sudan will announce a cease-fire at the start of peace talks with rebel groups Saturday in Libya aimed at ending the 41/2-year conflict in Darfur, Sudan's U.N. ambassador said Monday. Ambassador Abdelmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed said the government decided to declare a ceasefire to help promote the success of the talks. However, a key Darfur rebel chief, Abdul Wahid Elnur, has refused to attend talks if they are held in Libya. Khalil Ibrahim of the Justice and Equality Movement is also threatening to boycott. More than 200,000 people have died since ethnic African rebels in Darfur took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government in 2003.

BEIJING

China set to join the space race

China will launch its first lunar probe this week, an official said Monday - weeks after regional rival Japan put one in high orbit over the moon in a big leap forward in Asia's undeclared space race. The rivalry is likely to be joined soon by India, which plans to send its own lunar probe into space in April. The launch window for China's Chang'e 1 orbiter has been set for Wednesday through Friday, said Li Guoping, a spokesman for the China National Space Administration.

ROME

Organized crime is Italy moneymaker

Revenue from organized crime amounts to an estimated $127-billion annually in Italy, making it the largest segment of the economy, a lobby group for small businesses said Monday. The figure, representing about 7 percent of the country's gross domestic product, is made from illicit activities such as extortion, drug trafficking, loansharking and prostitution rings, the Confesercenti lobby said in a report. Business lobbies have launched campaigns in recent years to increase awareness of the extent of organized crime in Italy, which they say limits investment in the country.

Elsewhere

Kidnapped released: Seven oil workers who were kidnapped from an offshore oil field in Nigeria were released Monday after two days in captivity, police said.

[Last modified October 22, 2007, 23:28:55]