Clooney Talks Darfur With Obama

George Clooney had a pretty good reason for skipping the Oscars: He had a meeting yesterday with President Obama. Clooney told the president about his visit with Darfur refugees, and delivered 250,000 postcards gathered by the Save Darfur organization to the president. "I think somehow we should all know that these people are hanging on by the skin of their teeth," says Clooney.

The refugees need "good, robust diplomacy all across the world," Clooney said. The Oscar-winner, a United Nations Messenger of Peace, said he asked Obama to appoint a full-time regional envoy who reports directly to the White House, and to ask China to set aside its business interests in the region and pressure Sudan to prevent atrocities. (More George Clooney stories.)