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• Barack Obama wins the 2008 U.S. presidency • The road to victory • McCain's gracious concession speech • President Bush called to congratulate President Obama • Hillary Clinton brings her support to President Obama • The road ahead at The White House for President Obama • Obama's winning states • McCain's winning states • Obama big's win.
As America votes to make history by electing its first black President Story by Hugues-Denver Akassy CHICAGO, Illinois - Grant Park - (Orbite) — YES, WE CAN, chanted in chorus by thousands of supporters as they waited hours to see their new president-elect. Barack Obama cruised to victory Tuesday night in an historic triumph that promised change, overcame centuries of prejudice and fulfilled Martin Luther King's dream that a man be judged not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character. In an extraordinary moment in America's history, Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama has won the 2008 presidential election and will become the 44th president of the United States and the country's first African-American leader. "Because of what we did on this day, in this election, in this defining moment, change has come to America," Mr Obama told 125,000 supporters gathered in Chicago's Grant Park to celebrate his victory. "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer," he added. "A new dawn of American leadership is at hand," Mr Obama said. The road to victory Mr Obama's victory comes on the strength of projected wins in battleground states that went to President George W. Bush four years ago - among them Ohio, Florida, Virginia, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Iowa - as well as a victory in Pennsylvania, a state that Senator John McCain had hoped to turn blue to buoy his bid for an upset victory. As the results came in Tuesday evening, a senior aide told Orbite the McCain camp was hoping for a "miracle," but the Arizona senator was not able to defy expectations in one of the worst election years for Republicans in decades. McCain's gracious concession speech "We have come to the end of a long journey," Mr McCain said in a gracious concession speech late Tuesday night. "The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly." "Let there be no reason now for any American not to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on earth," he added, lauding the historic nature of Mr Obama's victory for African-Americans. Mr McCain told disappointed supporters he had called Mr Obama to congratulate him on his victory and asked them to support the new president-elect. President Bush called to congratulate President Obama President George W. Bush also called Mr Obama Tuesday evening to congratulate him on his victory, the Obama campaign told Orbite. The president also called Mr McCain, the White House said, telling the Republican nominee, "John, you gave it your all." Hillary Clinton's brings her support to President Obama Hillary Clinton, the New York senator whom Mr Obama defeated in a tough Democratic primary battle, released a statement saying that she looks forward "to doing all that I can to support President Obama and Vice President Biden in the difficult work that lies ahead." She said that under their leadership, as well as that of a Democratic Congress, "we will chart a better course to build a new economy and rebuild our leadership in the world." The road ahead at The White House for Obama "The road ahead will be long," Mr Obama said in his remarks. "Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there." Mr Obama cited challenges ahead, among them "two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century." Obama's winning states In addition to the above states, Orbite estimates that Mr Obama will win California, New York, Washington, Michigan, Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont, Illinois, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maryland, Hawaii, Connecticut, Maine, Delaware, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia. McCain's winning states Mr McCain will take Texas, Arizona, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Utah, West Virginia, South Dakota, Arkansas, Alabama, Idaho, Tennessee, Kansas, North Dakota, Wyoming and Oklahoma, the network projects. Obama's big wins Mr Obama is now estimated to take at least 338 electoral votes, while McCain has 156. 270 electoral votes are needed to take the White House. Diane Reeve contributed reporting from Chicago.
Singer Alicia Keys Pours Heart into AIDS Fight in Africa
Alicia Keys, American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, actress, philanthropist, and author. As many of South Africa's Mixed Race Population Identifies with the Singer
WENTWORTH, South Africa (Orbite) -- Alicia Keys did not have to come here, to this small town outside of Durban on South Africa's eastern coast, where the infection rate from HIV/AIDS is believed to be twice the national average: 40 percent of the people in this part of the country are infected. But for the Grammy winning singer and songwriter, the opportunity to come here and help build a clinic was reason enough to cross the ocean and confront a seemingly insurmountable challenge. She came, she says, "To be the voice of the people. To represent real people and real life, real struggles, real pains, real joys, real things that are really there, you know? "I never wanted to be caught up in all the fantasies and the frivolity," she said. "You know, just, I never cared about that." The humanitarian organization Keep A Child Alive has enlisted Keys as an ambassador to raise awareness about AIDS in Africa, where it hopes to attack the pandemic through a simple philosophy: $1 per child, per day for life-saving drugs, with nearly 100 percent of donations going toward treatment. The clinic in Wentworth will provide the town's residents with HIV testing and treatment, as well as counseling for alcohol and drug dependencies, and courses in nutrition and women's empowerment. But the effort, though substantial, is a small counterattack in a war with many, many fronts. Overcoming Stigma and Taboos
Until very recently, the nation's President denied the link between HIV and AIDS. And in a widely publicized trial this year, a major politician claimed he would bathe after sexual intercourse to avoid transmission of the virus -- a claim that enraged health advocates. Keep A Child Alive hopes that the attention Keys creates can bring real results to a place where progress has been slow. "There is such a stigma here and just because Alicia Keys put her name on this building, now it's cool to go get tested. Now it's cool to go get treatment," says Erika Rose, Keys' longtime friend and sometime song-writing partner. "I mean, we are talking about something that is layered so deep here, people just suffer in silence." The legal justifications for apartheid, South Africa's official state policy of segregation, were largely removed by 1991, but its legacy persists in the nation's treatment of HIV/AIDS. The challenge in Wentworth is unique, according to Keep a Child Alive Founder Leigh Blake, because much of the population here is of mixed race -- a community Blake says has been neglected. "They were dumped here in this township of Wentworth mostly to work for the surrounding industries," Blake said. "When apartheid was abolished, there was a lot of focus on the black community and quite rightly -- they'd been desperately, painfully treated through the centuries. But the colored community also needs help." "Colored," the phrase commonly used in South Africa to refer to people of mixed race, was a phrase that the American visitors had to get used to. But eventually, Rose said, she realized it was another source of connection for her and for Keys -- both of whom, in South Africa, would be considered "colored." "It really took someone explaining, you know, this is what they call it here, that's what they call themselves, colored, you know. I'm colored here," Rose says. "Alicia is colored too, which is another sort of insane connection ... People see her as one of them and she sees it the same way." Her Journey Her official website says she possesses an "old soul," and the hard facts seem to back up the implied claim of wisdom and experience that transcend Alicia Keys' youth. Alicia Keys (born Alicia J. Augello-Cook on January 25, 1980, is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, actress, philanthropist, and author who has won numerous awards, including 9 Grammy Awards, 11 Billboard Music Awards, and 3 American Music Awards. Ms. Keys was the only child born to an Irish-Italian mother, Teresa "Terri" Augello, and a Jamaican father, Craig Cook, in the New York City’s Harlem. Ms. Terri was a paralegal and actress, but Keys was raised in a semi-poor home in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Keys' mother and father separated during her early childhood, thus she was raised by her mother during her formative years. Her mother was the one who most supported her during the time she was developing her musical talents. In 1985, Keys and a group of other girls won the parts of Rudy Huxtable’s sleepover guests in an episode of The Cosby Show called "Slumber Party", aired on March 28 of the same year. The episode became the only time Keys was credited under her real name. She began playing the piano when she was seven, learning classical music by composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, and her favorite, Chopin. In 2005, the press reported that Ms. Keys was attempting to reconcile with her father. However, Ms. Keys denied this and said her words were misinterpreted. Keys graduated from the Professional Performing Arts, a high school in Manhattan, at the age of sixteen as valedictorian. Although accepted to Columbia University at age sixteen with a scholarship, she decided instead to pursue her musical career. Barely in her twenties, Keys was responsible for an extremely hot debut, Song in A Minor. The release, which she wrote and produced for Clive Davis' J Records, blends diverse influences, including R&B, hip-hop, classical, and jazz. The day the album went on the market, it sold more than 50,000 copies. Label executives confidently predicted similarly favorable numbers for the first week's tally. Around the time that Song in A Minor was released, Keys was popping up everywhere, including an Associated Press story. Where had she been before then? Her entire life, it seems, had been an accelerated learning experience, preparing her for a career in music.
A Manhattan native, her musical gifts became apparent when she was five years old. As a choir major enrolled in Manhattan's Professional Performance Arts School, she further developed her vocal talents with extra help from a teacher. By the time she was 16, Keys graduated and entered Columbia University. Music beckoned, however, and she quickly left Columbia behind. Keys was writing songs when she was 14, with seven years of piano lessons under her belt by that time. In later years, she appeared on movie soundtracks, including Shaft and Men in Black.
In 1998, she signed a deal with Arista Records when the company triumphed in a bidding war over other labels. When Davis left the company for J Records in 1999, Keys went along. Davis promoted the careers of such artists as Carlos Santana and Whitney Houston, and part of his launch strategy for Keys was to secure exposure on BET and MTV, as well as on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Her 2001 major-label debut, Song in A Minor, hit number one, went multi-platinum, and was followed in 2003 by another chart-topper, The Diary of Alicia Keys, which became a Grammy winner. The live CD/DVD Unplugged appeared in 2005, following her previous releases to the top of the charts. A Common Language
"All music speaks to me," Keys said, "but we have to believe in something, and when it seems like there's nothing to believe in, you have hope and you have your faith that you are not going to be left alone." "If you have this voice that Alicia has, you know, you gotta use it. It's a currency, you know," Rose said. "People put so much stock in celebrity and fame and people don't use it for the right thing." In this and in any epidemic, accurate information is vital, and so Keys' voice is a powerful tool in the fight against AIDS. Diane Reeve contributed reporting from South Africa
- The End - © 2007 Orbite Television, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Lucy Liu talks about going to Africa for UNICEF, acting in comedy and the issues facing an Asian-American actor
American Actress Lucy Alexi Liu Actress Lucy Liu Speaks Out Orbite EXCLUSIVE With Hugues-Denver Akassy Considering that she has been traveling for almost two days to get from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to London, Lucy Liu looks fresh-faced and enthusiastic. The actress—known for her roles in “Ally McBeal,” “Charlie’s Angels” and more recently on the hit show “Ugly Betty”—traveled to the DRC as a UNICEF ambassador visiting a rehabilitation center for child soldiers, a hospital for young girls who have been raped and an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp. The 38-year-old actress, who has a bachelor's degree in Asian studies from the University of Michigan, has been quietly working with UNICEF since 2004. But it is not just the plight of children that she wants to spotlight. She says she chose to play the role of an HIV-positive Chinese woman in last year’s film “3 Needles” to spread awareness about HIV and AIDS across Asia. Last year she also produced a documentary, “Freedom’s Fury,” that told the story of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution through the lens of the infamous Hungary versus Soviet Union semifinal water polo match at the 1956 Olympic Games. She has three films coming out this year, including “Watching the Detectives,” which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival last May. Liu spoke with Hugues-Denver Akassy, managing editor and moderator of Orbite TV Show in New York about her humanitarian work and her career: Hugues-Denver Akassy: Tell me about your trip—why go to the RDC now?
HDA: The issue of child soldiers has recently been highlighted in films like “Blood Diamonds” and best-selling books like Ishmael Beah’s “A Long Way Home.” What impressed you about what you saw with the rehabilitation of these children? Lucy Liu: We had a difficult time getting there [to see them]. UNICEF is trying to abolish the school fees [for all children] because now it is a $1 a month to go to school. It is not a lot for us, but for them it is an impossible fee. Children look forward to school, and if you give them the opportunity they bounce back quite quickly: they have confidence, something to look forward to. So with a little bit of help, these children can make a huge comeback. HDA: There is often a rolled-eye reaction when stories come out about celebrities traipsing around refugee camps or waxing lyrical on political issues. Lucy Liu: Well if someone came into this like, "Oh, I will get some photographs with some very poor people," I think it would really open their eyes up, regardless of their intentions. You will be surprised that even if you have an agenda, when you leave you won’t have one. That was not the case with me. I did not want UNICEF to tell the press that I was an ambassador until we needed to put attention on [places I had visited with UNICEF] like Pakistan or Lesotho. That is definitely not my mentality. This is something I intend to be involved in for the rest of my life. Up until the moment I have my last breath, I am hoping there will a way to create change. It is awful, seeing the deterioration of a human being—you can smell it and taste it because it permeates your skin. It is not something you will ever forget. And you cannot go on living your life, it is not the same thing. Your decisions and choices in life will change, and your world becomes much bigger. HDA: It’s interesting, because you seem like a very serious person yet you gravitate toward more comedic roles. Lucy Liu: Well [smiles], I don’t have a preference. I like to do a lot of things, not just caught up in the one thing. I love to do action, comedy, drama. And I love doing it in all different arenas—in the genres of film, television and theater. They say, “Oh, if you do TV, you do not do film,” and I don’t find that. It is about the role, the people you work with. I love doing comedy, but I like to bounce back and forth. It is all the same thing, it is a fine line. You cannot have a comedic role without some drama. HDA: Have you found that the more successful you are, the less you are being pigeonholed as an Asian-American actress? Lucy Liu: It is still a slow process. It has expanded a bit more, but I still think there is a great deal of the melting pot to go. I do not think it has completely been cleared where you can play Meryl Streep’s daughter, but it is slowly becoming a much more open society racially. You see it on television and film, but there is still a lot of progress to be made in that department. HDA: Are you drawn to or repelled by roles that call for an Asian actress? You have recently signed up to be in the Charlie Chan remake. Lucy Liu: No, it’s about the people I work with and the role. It varies but I do not choose a role based on my [ethnic] background. HDA: Thank you for the interview. Lucy Liu: Thank you, I appreciate Orbite interest in Africa. Read follow up article on the same issue Unicef Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu Urges Protection of Women And Children
Lucy Liu kneads bread with Congolese boys in Goma while on a seven-day mission for UNICEF in June
The Actress mission to stop violence
New York (Orbite) -- Having recently returned from a visit to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Ambassador Lucy Liu called on the nation's Government to bolster its efforts to protect women and children caught in the continuing violence. On her mission to Ituri and North Kivu province, Ms. Liu, an American actress, told Orbite that she met with former child soldiers, survivors of sexual violence and communities of people forced to flee their homes by the ongoing hostilities. "I had the opportunity to meet with children and women who have faced unspeakable horrors, and who continue to live in an unstable environment," she said. "Yet it is clear to me that the people of DRC are still very much hopeful for change which can only happen if the international community continues to support the work of agencies like UNICEF and its partners." The deadly civil war which mired the DRC between 1998 and 2003 claimed the lives of roughly 3.8 million people, and is the most lethal conflict worldwide since World War II. Furthermore, approximately 1,200 people die daily in the Central African nation, with children comprising half of these victims. Children suffer disproportionately, whether from disease or witnessing and participating in conflict. Nearly 30,000 child soldiers have laid down their arms thus far and are being reintegrated into their communities, while thousands more are still active in armed groups, according to UNICEF. Since the start of this year, more than 50,000 have been displaced from their homes and lack basic services and shelter. UNICEF has supplied assistance to these people by providing clean water and emergency education and household supplies. UNICEF, in conjunction with its partners, has also aided 100,000 to return to their communities by providing them with survival kits and equipping schools with supplies so children's educations can resume. In a related development, UN agencies and their partners yesterday asserted that education offers promise in responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic ravaging sub-Saharan Africa in a summary of a new report set to be issued later this year. "Education is essential to preventing HIV infection among young people, especially girls," according to the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), UNICEF, the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Bank and the Partnership for Child Development. "It helps them live free from HIV and AIDS by imparting knowledge, skills and values to help them protect themselves as they grow up," it added. "At the same time, preventing HIV infection is essential for ensuring the sup ply, demand and quality of education." The study, entitled "Accelerating the Education Sector Response to HIV and AIDS: Five Years On," highlights the achievements made by the agencies in the past five years in propelling the education sector's response to the epidemic. Adolescents and young people, the report said, are not given enough information on HIV/AIDS. Life skills must be taught to supplement facts about sex and the virus to truly be effective in reducing vulnerability and curtailing risky behaviour. The report also underscored the necessity of empowering young girls to alter the course of the epidemic, as gender disparities still result in women being at increased risk of infection and bearing the greater burden of the disease. This new study is a result of the work of the UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team on Education. Since its establishment in 2002, the education sectors of 37 countries - representing mover 200 million school-age children in sub-Saharan Africa and 2.6 million school teachers - have participated in the programme, known as "Accelerate Initiative." From TV to Movie and a Humanitarian Star Best known to television audiences as Ling Woo, the raging force of political incorrectness on Ally McBeal, Lucy Alexis Liu has managed to cross over to the big screen in such features as Payback , Play It to the Bone , Charlie's Angels and Kill Bill Vol. 1-2. Born Lucy Alexis Liu, on December 2, 1967, in Queens, New York. Liu grew up speaking both English and Mandarin. The 38-year-old actress, daughter of Chinese immigrants, Liu attended New York City’s prestigious Stuyvesant High School. She enrolled at New York University, but transferred after one year to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where she studied Asian languages and culture and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1990. During her senior year at Michigan, where she also studied acting, dance, and voice, Liu auditioned for a supporting part in a school production of Alice in Wonderland; to her surprise, she won the lead role, that of the typically blond, blue-eyed Alice. With that, her acting career had officially begun. Liu's first professional job was playing a waitress on Beverly Hills 90210, something that led to more substantial work on various TV shows, including a regular part on the TV series Pearl. Liu's biggest breakthrough came in 1998, when she was cast as Ling Woo on Ally McBeal. She had originally auditioned for the role of Nelle Porter, which ultimately went to Australian actress Portia DeRossi. David E. Kelley, the show's producer, was so impressed with Liu's audition, however, that he created the role of Ling Woo specifically for her. The character was initially supposed to be included on only a few episodes but proved so popular with the show's audience that Liu was made into a regular cast member. Unsurprisingly, the actress' increased exposure led to greater opportunities on the screen and after playing supporting roles in such films as Payback and Molly (both 1999), she moved on to more substantial work in Play It to the Bone and the Jackie martial-arts period comedy Shanghai Noon, which cast her as a princess who has been kidnapped from her emperor father. In 2000, she also was cast in perhaps her most high-profile role to date, when she was chosen alongside Drew Barymore and Cameron Diaz as one of the titular crime fighters in Charlie's Angels: the movie. With the exception of a small role as an inmate in the Oscar-winning film Chicago, 2002 brought little recognition for Liu -- Cypher, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, and Party Monster with former Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin went virtually unseen by the general public. 2003's Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle placed Liu firmly back inside the spotlight, though she was somewhat overshadowed by the toothy blonde glint that is Cameron Diaz. Luckily for Liu, she was given the chance to shine quite independently when Quentin Tarantino cast her as the deadly O-Ren Ishii, AKA Cottonmouth, in Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003). For years UNICEF has been a global leader for children’s rights. The organization has provided protection, disease (including HIV) prevention programs, health care programs and much more to at risk and in need children worldwide. Over the years, a number of celebrities like Lucy Liu have lent their talents in helping to raise money and awareness to UNICEF’s cause. Diane Reeve contributed reporting - The End - © 2007 Orbite Television, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
U.S. Talk Show Queen Oprah Winfrey Has Opened a Brand New $US40 Million School For Disadvantaged South African Girls That She Has Paid For Out of Her Own Pocket.
Oprah Winfrey here inaugurating new school for South African girls. Oprah's mission in Africa By Celean Jacobson The true stars, though, were Sade and Megan, whose father killed their mother and then himself; Zodwa, whose mother died of AIDS, and some 150 other girls who Winfrey said had a "light so bright" that it shone through their deprivation and helped their dreams come true. The $40 million Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in the town of Henley-on-Klip, south of Johannesburg, plucked the girls from poverty to be groomed for power. Winfrey said she planned to open another school for boys and girls this month in eastern KwaZulu-Natal province. Guests on Tuesday, including Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Sidney Poitier and Chris Tucker, were asked to bring a personally inscribed book for the library, which included everything from self-help books to Harry Potter. Winfrey, who is called "Mam Oprah" by the girls, said she came with a celebrity posse for a reason. "These people have the power to do things. They have voices which can be heard in the U.S. and across the world," she said. Lee, who attended with his family, said it was a "testimony to Oprah's power to see all these people showed up to support her." "Oprah is one of the most amazing women in the world. It is amazing to see what she can do when she puts her mind to it. It is an honor to be here," said Carey. Africa has drawn attention from a number of celebrities. Madonna adopted a Malawian boy and set up programs for others orphaned by AIDS in that southern African country, while actor George Clooney has lobbied to stop the violence in Sudan's Darfur region. Other stars have acted as U.N. goodwill ambassadors. Nelson Mandela, whom Winfrey credited with inspiring her to build the school, interrupted his vacation for the ceremony. Mandela, 88, looked frail as he was helped to the stage by his wife Graca Machel and Winfrey. The anti-apartheid leader, who became South Africa's first democratically elected president in 1994, beamed as he told Winfrey: "This is not a distant donation but a project that clearly lies close to your heart." The girls sat attentively on stage in green-and-white uniforms as the poignant stories of some were told in a documentary shown to guests. A few students greeted guests and media with Winfrey, clutching at her long pink dress and holding her hand. Maphefo Leputu, 12, of Soweto, who used to share a bed with her cousins, said she was overwhelmed at the prospect of her own room and bathroom _ and the chance to one day become a lawyer. "I would have had a completely different life if this hadn't happened to me," said 13-year-old Lesego Tlhabanyane, whose mother abandoned her when she was 4. "Now I get a life where I get to be treated like a movie star." Earlier Winfrey said at a news conference that educating girls could have far-reaching benefits. "Girls who are educated are less likely to get HIV/AIDS, and in this country, which has such a pandemic, we have to begin to change the pandemic," she said. Many of the girls come from families affected by the disease, which has infected 5.4 million of South Africa's 48 million population and hit women disproportionately hard. Winfrey referred repeatedly to her own impoverished childhood and said she was grateful she had a good education. "I was a poor girl who grew up with my grandmother, like so many of these girls, with no water and electricity," she said. She promised to continue to support the girls so they could attend any university in the world. The idea for the school was born in 2000 at a meeting between Winfrey and Mandela. Built on 52 acres, the 28-building campus resembles a luxury hotel, with state-of-the-art classrooms, computer and science labs and a library, theater and wellness center. Each girl lives in a two-bedroom suite. Winfrey said she chose "every brick tile, sheet and spoon," because "if you are surrounded by beautiful things and wonderful teachers who inspire you, that beauty brings out the beauty in you." Some South Africans called the school elitist and a waste of money which could have been used to educate more children. But others applauded Winfrey. "Any initiative which ... enhances the quality of education and which enhances the possibility of a young person realizing their dream to do better is a welcome opportunity," Education Minister Naledi Pandor said. "Girls' education in Africa may be the highest returning investment in the world right now," said Gene Sperling, director of the Center for Universal Education at the Council on Foreign Relations. "There's never a CNN camera showing a child dying from lack of education, but children die from lack of education every day." As for those who criticized Winfrey for creating a lavish retreat for a small number of girls, Ken Walker, the Africa press officer in Johannesburg for CARE, said: "You make leaders by treating them as elite." Despite government efforts to improve the school system, the education department said last week that two-thirds of the 1,667,000 South African children who started school 12 years ago dropped out, and only 5 percent did well enough to be eligible to go to a university. State-funded schools, especially in the townships that sprang up under white racist rule, are plagued by gang violence, drugs and a high rate of teen pregnancy. Winfrey selected the 11- to 12-year-old girls from 3,500 applicants. To qualify, they had to show both academic and leadership potential and have a household income of no more than $787 a month. Winfrey said she was building a home for herself on the campus to spend time with the girls and to be involved in their education. "I love these girls with every part of my being," she said. "I didn't know you could feel this way about other people's children." AP writer Sarah DiLorenzo in New York contributed to this report. - The End - © 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. President Bush Approves Plan To Pressure Sudan as U.S. Treasury Would Block Transactions
U.S. President George W Bush
Washington, D.C. (Orbite) - President Bush has approved a plan for the Treasury Department to aggressively block U.S. commercial bank transactions connected to the government of Sudan, including those involving oil revenues, if Khartoum continues to balk at efforts to bring peace to Sudan's troubled Darfur region, government officials said yesterday. The Treasury plan is part of a secret three-tiered package of coercive steps -- labeled "Plan B" -- that the administration has repeatedly threatened to unleash if Sudan continues to sponsor a campaign of terror that has left as many as 450,000 dead and 2.5 million homeless. But the administration has held back on any announcement of Plan B, even after setting a Jan. 1 deadline, in hopes of still winning Khartoum's cooperation. The delays have increased skepticism that the administration is willing to risk potential diplomatic and commercial fallout from targeting Khartoum. The U.S. plan would put pressure on Darfur rebel leaders who have refused to participate in peace talks or who have targeted humanitarian groups operating in the region, officials said. The information on Plan B was provided by officials in four government agencies on the condition of anonymity because the administration had not planned on releasing details yet. Some aspects of Plan B have already been stealthily launched, such as stationing four U.S. Army colonels last month as observers on the Sudan-Chad border in full view of Sudanese intelligence. The unannounced move was intended as a signal to Khartoum, which the administration accuses of launching a "quiet war" against Chad's government to widen the Darfur conflict. "I find this all very dubious. They have talked about Plan B, but they have never explained what Plan B is," said J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The deadlines have come and gone, and the Sudanese have thumbed their noses." Andrew Natsios, Bush's special envoy to Sudan, tomorrow will testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the administration has set three triggers that would result in the enhanced sanctions: one, renewed attacks on displacement camps or driving nongovernmental organizations from Darfur; two, stonewalling peace negotiations with rebel forces; and three, refusing to implement a plan pushed by then-U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to expand a poorly equipped 7,000-person African Union force into a hybrid A.U.-U.N. force of 17,000 troops and 3,000 police. "Treasury's plan to block commercial bank transactions connected to the Khartoum regime, even those involving oil revenues, will be only a minor, short-term inconvenience," said Eric Reeves, a Sudan expert at Smith College, who noted that Khartoum has already violated the three triggers since the start of the year. "This element of Plan B only reveals more fully its vacuous nature." The Darfur conflict broke out in 2003, when African rebel groups attacked police stations and military outposts. The United Nations and human rights groups accuse Sudan's government of supporting a militia known as the Janjaweed in an effort to crush the rebellion. About 2,000 villages have been destroyed across Darfur, and the administration more than two years ago accused the government of engaging in genocide. But the United States has made little progress in ending the conflict or the humanitarian crisis. Buoyed by booming oil wealth and a close relationship with China, Sudan has shrugged off repeated threats of action. Bush, increasingly frustrated by the impasse, approved key aspects of the plan last month, directing Treasury to come up with a menu of options that would directly affect the government in Khartoum, officials said. Sudan's Arab leadership has fought multiple civil wars with regional groups over the country's oil and other resources, and U.S. officials believe Sudan's leaders are fearful of any moves that might threaten their grip on power. Sudan's economy is largely dollar-based, meaning many commercial transactions flow through the United States and making it especially vulnerable to Treasury actions. Indeed, U.S. intelligence, which has stepped up reporting on Sudan in recent months to prepare for a confrontation, believes Khartoum set up a government committee to explore ways of obtaining oil revenues that did not involve dollars, such as barter deals, one official said. Sudan's government has also unsuccessfully sought new oil contracts that would provide for large upfront payments. The core of the Treasury plan rests on an executive order issued by President Bill Clinton in 1997 that blocked all Sudanese government assets, including companies connected to it, and curtailed financial dealings with Sudanese entities. Bush last year issued a second executive order that blocked the property of people connected to the conflict in Darfur. The existing orders already result in regular freezes or rejections of some Sudanese transactions, but U.S. officials believe they also give the Treasury the authority for an aggressive crackdown on a much larger group of companies connected to Sudan. Officials hope a ripple effect of Treasury's actions would extend to other countries and companies doing business with Sudan, forcing them to reconsider whether they want to be tainted or, more troubling, subjected to Treasury's scrutiny. "Anything that is controlled by the government we can go after," a senior administration official said. "But the effectiveness will be driven by the participation of our partners," meaning other countries. Sudan produces about 500,000 barrels of oil a year, which at current market rates is worth about $10 billion. As much as 200,000 barrels are kept for internal consumption, Morrison said, with about 75 percent of the rest sold to China. Partly because some aspects of the plan are still classified, administration officials yesterday were vague about how the plan would cripple Sudan's oil revenues. One official said Treasury will "have the ability to touch things that touch oil revenues." The regional government of South Sudan, created through a peace deal two years ago, is supposed to get 50 percent of oil revenues. Officials said they think they had designed the plan so it would harm Khartoum but without impacting the government in the south. - The End - © 2007 Orbite Television, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Clooney leads Darfur mission
George Clooney addresses the Darfur rally in Washington, DC, Dec 12, 06
By Hugues-Denver Akassy Washington, (Orbite) - Stepping up his efforts to raise awareness about the killings in Sudan's Darfur region, Oscar-winning actor George Clooney this week led a small delegation of activists, among them fellow actor Don Cheadle and two former Olympians, to meet with high-ranking government officials in China. The group planned to travel from Beijing to Cairo for more talks today, before returning to the United States later in the week. According to a representative for Clooney, the actor organized the trip to make a personal plea to Chinese and Egyptian officials to use their ties with the Sudanese government to help stop the violence. Since 2003, about 200,000 people have been killed in an ongoing ethnic conflict in Darfur, a region of western Sudan. Another 2.5 million people have been displaced. Among those traveling with the actor were Kenyan Olympian Tegla Loroupe, who serves as a United Nations ambassador of sport; American speed skater and gold medal winner Joey Cheek; Cheadle, one of Clooney's "Ocean's Eleven" costars; and David Pressman, a human rights lawyer and former aide to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Since visiting Darfur in April with Pressman, Clooney has waged a public campaign — attending rallies, appearing on talk shows and lobbying politicians — to push for an end to the violence. In September, Clooney and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel met with U.N. Security Council members to urge them to act on Darfur. Clooney asked that an international peacekeeping force be assembled to effectively protect civilians in the region. - The End - © 2006 Orbite Television, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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