AFRICA: Western powers on Wednesday sought to persuade Sudan to agree to a weak African Union peacekeeping force being turned into a more robust U.N. mission to stop killing in the Darfur region, an EU official said. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Development Commissioner Louis Michel began a day of meetings with African Union and Sudanese leaders as well senior United Nations and U.S. officials. Pressure is mounting for greater Western involvement to end violence and a humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Darfur, in western Sudan, begun three years ago by mostly non-Arab rebels accusing Khartoum of neglect. Rape, killing and looting have driven 2 million from their homes. Full Story