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- UN is searching for 5 missing Afghan staff
Five Afghan staff members of the United Nations Office of Project Services are missing and efforts are under way to determine their whereabouts, UN officials said today. Afghanistan has seen a pattern of attacks on expatriate and local staff of UN agencies and NGOs in recent years. The Washington Post/Reuters (4/16)       - Kidnapped peacekeepers make contact with UNAMID
Four South African peacekeepers serving as members of the United Nations-African Union joint force in Darfur have made contact with their superiors for the first time since their abduction Sunday. Kidnappers are reportedly demanding $450,000 to secure their release. AlertNet.org/Reuters (4/16)   | - More mobile phones than toilets in India
The disparity between access to mobile telephones and toilets points toward a dangerous trend for India, according to a new report from the Institute for Water, Environment and Health at the United Nations University. Mobile subscriptions reach about half of India's 1.2 billion people, while only about a third have access to a toilet. Improved sanitation "could do more to save lives, especially those of young people, improve health and help pull India and other countries in similar circumstances out of poverty than any alternative investment," UN University director Zafar Adeel said. Google/Agence France-Presse (4/15) - Chinese leaders travel to Tibetan plateau after deadly quake
With some 760 people dead and thousands more injured in China's Qinghai province as a result of a 6.9-magnitude earthquake, China is taking active steps to provide aid and relief to Tibetan quake victims. President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao flew to the Tibetan plateau to pledge support for the mostly impoverished of Yushu county. Chinese soldiers worked hand in hand with Tibetans, including Buddhist monks, to rescue survivors. Los Angeles Times (4/15) , The Guardian (London) (4/15) - WHO warns of ash cloud dangers
Ash from Iceland's volcano may cause respiratory problems and Europeans should stay indoors when it drops down from the sky, the World Health Organization said today as the microscopic particles began to settle in Iceland, Norway and Scotland. Most of the ash cloud remains 20,000 feet in the air but will eventually fall to earth. Google/The Associated Press (4/16) - Defying Abbas, Hamas executes collaborators
Hamas officials executed two Palestinians convicted of conspiring to assassinate Palestinian militants -- highlighting tensions between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Under Palestinian law, the president's signature is required for the executions of collaborators, but Hamas does not recognize the authority of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The executions were the first since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. The Washington Post (4/16) - U.S. gets extension on Kyrgyz air base lease
Kyrgyzstan will allow the U.S. at least one more year at the Manas air base, an essential asset for initiatives in Afghanistan. That news came after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev went into exile Thursday, ceding rule to the interim government that took power after mass demonstrations against the Bakiyev's government were received with deadly violence. BBC (4/16) - Sudan's Bashir is likely to win re-election
Sudanese voters are expected to re-elect President Omar al-Bashir by a wide margin in an election marked by an opposition boycott and polling confusion, despite domestic conflict and international frustration. Dramatic economic growth since Bashir's election -- owing largely to the exploitation of oil resources -- has lead to high popularity for Bashir in the north. Though Bashir has said that the north was prepared to allow southern Sudan to break away, northern Sudan would be giving up access to the country's richest oil reserves. Los Angeles Times (4/16) - An old nuclear fear gets a modern look
 Fear of the use of compact nuclear weapons to attack on U.S. territory has been around for decades, according to declassified intelligence documents. But al-Qaida and individual terrorists have replaced Soviet spies living in the U.S. as part of sleeper cells as the most likely of potential attackers. The New York Times (free registration) (4/15) - Pakistani army makes gains against Pakistani Taliban
Pakistani soldiers have recaptured territory in the Bajaur district near the mountainous border with Afghanistan once controlled by the Pakistani Taliban -- part of a larger effort that has taxed Pakistan's military. At least one-third of Pakistan's army is occupied with efforts to pacify the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where soldiers have disrupted Pakistani Taliban forces. The army has stopped shy of fighting the Afghan Taliban based in North Waziristan. The Independent (London) (4/16) - Iran to fire back at sanctions effort through nonproliferation meeting
In its efforts to resist and deter U.S.-led sanctions, the Iran has zeroed in on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which comes up for review next month. Iran, a signatory nation, intends to attend the meeting in New York to convince allies that the U.S. and other Western countries are flouting their responsibilities under the treaty -- while arguing that Iran's own program is perfectly consistent with its rights. Representatives of some 200 governments will be in attendance for the meeting. The Independent (London) (4/15)
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