The UN’s top humanitarian official is appealing for an international force to stop ongoing violence in Darfur.

• UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland: “On Darfur, indeed in many ways we are in a free fall in Darfur at the moment. The Secretary-General has been very clear in the Security Council yesterday. I have myself appealed publicly to those nations, countries who can influence the parties including the government like China, the Arab states, the Islamic states to try to convince the Khartoum government that we need this U.N. force to avoid the collapse (in Darfur).”