Clooney to give Senate testimony

3/14/2012

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Actor and human rights activist George Clooney made a quiet visit to a volatile border region between Sudan and South Sudan last week ahead of testimony he's giving before a U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday.

Clooney made the dangerous crossing from South Sudan into Sudan's Nuba Mountains region, Jonathan Hutson, a spokesman for the anti-genocide group the Enough Project, said Tuesday. Clooney saw burned-out villages and met with residents forced to seek shelter in caves because of aerial attacks by Sudan's military.

Violence has flared along the Sudan-South Sudan border since South Sudan seceded last year, and some experts worry the conflict could grow. South Sudan shut down its oil industry this year after accusing Sudan of stealing its oil.

Wednesday's hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will examine the oil dispute and the limited access aid groups are being given to Sudan's southern regions. Aid experts say people who live in Sudan's Nuba Mountains will soon face a hunger crisis because they haven't been able to plant crops amid fear of attacks from South Sudan.

Clooney traveled to what is now known as South Sudan in January, 2011, as the region cast votes to secede from Sudan.

The vote was the culmination of a peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war.

After that visit, Clooney helped found the Satellite Sentinel Project, which uses satellite imagery to track military movements and attacks in the hopes of bringing attention to and potentially heading off hostilities.

Garth, Facinelli to split after 11 years

LOS ANGELES -- Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli say they are divorcing after 11 years.

In a statement Tuesday, the couple said they decided to end their marriage but share "the same deep love and devotion to our children."

Garth and Facinelli said they remain "dedicated to raising our beautiful daughters together," and asked for privacy and respect. The Southern California couple are parents to 14-year-old Luca, 9-year-old Lola, and 5-year-old Fiona.

The 39-year-old Garth came to fame in the 1990s TV series Beverly Hills, 90210 and appeared in the 2008-10 sequel. The 38-year-old Facinelli is a co-star in the Twilight movie franchise. The couple married in January, 2001. Garth also competed in Dancing With the Stars in 2007.