A local variety of the nutrient-rich, blue-green algae known as spirulina could boost incomes for women in Chad who harvest the product as well as help fight nutrition, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is fronting an appeal by hundreds of human rights activists in urging Senegal to try the exiled Chadian dictator Hissene Habre for mass murder and torture.

President Isaias Afwerki who is attending the 12th regular CEN-SAD Summit in the Chadian capital of Njamena yesterday held meetings with leaders of various member states.

Two Nobel laureates have called upon Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade to speed up the trial of former Chadian dictator Hissene Habré.

President Isaias Afwerki is participating in the 12th regular CEN-SAD Summit in the Chadian capital of Njamena.

President Isaias Afwerki today left for Njamena, Chad, to attend the CEN-SAD Summit.

The Nobel Peace Prize winners Bishop Desmond Tutu and Shirin Ebadi, as well as 117 African human rights groups from 25 countries, called today for the government of Senegal and the African Union to move forward with the trial of Hissène Habré. The exiled former dictator of Chad is accused of thousands of political killings and systematic torture.

Chad reassured Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir that he had nothing to fear as he began a visit to the country Wednesday, despite being wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.

Chad should deny entry to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir or arrest him for trial at the International Criminal Court should he visit the country, Human Rights Watch said today.  It has been widely reported in the media that al-Bashir is expected to travel to the Chadian capital N’djamena this week to attend a summit of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States.

The Nobel Peace Prize winners Bishop Desmond Tutu and Shirin Ebadi, as well as 117 African human rights groups from 25 countries, called today for  the government of Senegal and the African Union to move forward with the trial of  Hissène Habré.

Chad should deny entry to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir or arrest him for trial at the International Criminal Court should he visit the country, Human Rights Watch said today. It has been widely reported in the media that al-Bashir is expected to travel to the Chadian capital N'djamena this week to attend a summit of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States.

The Nobel Peace Prize winners Bishop Desmond Tutu and Shirin Ebadi together with 117 African human rights groups from 25 countries have today called for the government of Senegal and the African Union to move forward with the trial of Hissène Habré.

Eastern Chad is well known as one of the most challenging settings for emergency relief in the world due to the spillover from Sudan's Darfur conflict and internal strife, but far less attention is being focused on western regions where 1.6 million people are facing crop failure and food shortages ahead of the October harvest, according to WFP and the government.

Eastern Chad is well known as one of the most challenging settings for emergency relief in the world due to the spillover from Sudan's Darfur conflict and internal strife, but far less attention is being focused on western regions where 1.6 million people are facing crop failure and food shortages ahead of the October harvest, according to WFP and the government.

Donors hope spirulina, a blue-green, protein-packed algae, labelled a "wonderful future food source" 45 years ago by the International Association of Microbiology, will deliver on its promise by the time a US$1.7 million cultivation project in Chad, funded by the European Union (EU), ends in December 2010.

One-third of sex workers interviewed in a recent survey by the Chad government thought mosquito bites or sharing a meal could spread HIV. Almost half the workers had been tested, but few had a clear understanding of the disease, with the most misinformation reported in the central and northern regions.

Paying members of an association of sex workers on Fitiné Island in Lake Chad were having a harder time making a living, said Hadjé Gomssou, 45, the association president. Although she has been widowed twice, she has never been tested for HIV. For years the fishing industry provided her with a steady stream of clients, but recently it has declined, and with it the sex trade.

The recently finalized multi-agency and governmental vulnerability assessment map (VAM) of Chad, covering more than 4,000 households in 212 villages from April to June 2009, analyzed factors contributing to the current food crisis triggered by a 2009 drought.

Water levels in Lake Chad have been steadily dropping for decades, causing propellers to snag vegetation and sputter in the shallows, and making it harder for people who live on the islands to reach life-saving healthcare.

Almost US$27 million - half from donor funds and the rest from the government - was invested in demining activities in Chad from 2000 to 2008, but the country still cannot identify the number and location of landmines. Efforts to clear at-risk communities have been hobbled by lack of money, mismanagement, delays distributing funds in the field, inappropriate equipment and tough terrain, say officials and international demining NGOs.