Sudan

President vows to send troops to Darfur region

Sudan’s president promised to send troops to stop militia violence that has forced 1 million people from their homes in the state of Darfur, a Sudanese official said Friday after meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The pledge came as the United States raised the possibility of sanctions against Sudan if the government failed to act quickly to end attacks by Arab militias and allow humanitarian aid to reach displaced people.

Annan arrived in the capital, Khartoum, after visiting Sudanese refugees at a camp in Chad on a tour aimed at pressing President Omar el-Bashir’s government to end the 16-month conflict.

Virginia

Presbyterian Church rejects measure to allow gay clergy

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) legislative assembly narrowly rejected a measure Friday to allow regional governing bodies to ordain gay clergy and lay officers.

Under the 259-255 vote, the current interpretation of church law forbidding the ordination of gay clergy will remain binding on the church, including on the regional bodies, known as presbyteries.

Immediately after the vote, about 300 Presbyterians who supported allowing the ordination of gay clergy gathered in a courtyard where many wept and embraced.

“Tonight is another ‘no’ to us,” the Rev. Jane Spahr, a lesbian minister from San Rafael, Calif., told the group. “All we wanted to do is walk beside you and serve beside you.”

Virginia

Judge blocks Sundays-off law from taking effect now

A legislative mistake that would require Virginia businesses to give employees Saturdays or Sundays off as a “day of rest” if they request it was blocked from taking effect this weekend by a judge Friday.

Judge T.J. Markow granted an emergency 90-day injunction at the urging of several Virginia corporations.

The delay will give legislators time to correct the oversight, which alarmed a wide range of businesses with weekend or round-the-clock shifts to cover.

The “day of rest” law was mistakenly enacted earlier this year when Virginia’s General Assembly repealed the antiquated “blue laws” that once required businesses to close on Sundays.

Turkey

Earthquake leaves 18 dead

A moderate earthquake leveled stone and mud houses in an eastern Turkey village Friday, killing 18 people and injuring 27, officials said.

The earthquake struck at about 1:30 a.m., causing heavy damage in Yigincal, a village near the Iranian border. Damage also was reported in nearby villages in the same area of Dogubeyazit province.

The Anatolia news agency reported 67 homes in Yigincal were destroyed, and that six of those killed were children younger than 10.

Television pictures showed village women wailing outside their homes, which were reduced to piles.

The Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory put the magnitude of the quake at 5.0. Several aftershocks were reported.