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- UN: Myanmar cyclone survivors are not getting help they need
Two years after Cyclone Nargis carved a path of destruction through Myanmar and left more than 140,000 dead, hundreds of millions of dollars in aid is still needed to help the affected areas recover, the United Nations says. UN coordinator in Myanmar Bishow Parajuli said the effort is underfunded, with about $500 million still needed to fund a three-year plan for recovery. Google/The Associated Press (5/1)       - Gaza cheers opening of UNDP's soccer tourney
Thousands of Gazans cheered the opening of the Gazan Football World Cup on Saturday as players from the Gaza amateur leagues took on representatives of Italy. The tournament, being organized by the United Nations Development Programme, features 16 teams including the U.S., Russia, South Africa and Serbia made up mostly of foreign workers living in the Gaza Strip. BBC (5/3)  - Celebrities continue efforts for Haiti
Actors Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon, and musicians Wyclef Jean and Shakira are among the high-profile celebrities who have traveled the Haiti in the wake of the Jan. 12 earthquake to lend a hand to aid and recovery efforts. While some question whether the visits are anything more than calculated publicity moves, the celebrities have donated millions and helped keep Haiti on the global news radar. The Miami Herald (free registration) (5/1) - Suu Kyi wins freedom to fix house where she is imprisoned
Democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi has won the right to patch the crumbling roof of the home in which she is imprisoned, representing a small moral victory over her captors in Myanmar. Her brother -- who is said to be on the dole of the Myanmar junta -- opposed Suu Kyi's appeals for repairs to her home, saying that half of the house belonged to him. Suu Kyi has been a prisoner at the house since 1988. The Independent (London) (5/3) - Methodist leader launches $100 million campaign against malaria
United Methodist bishop Thomas Bickerton, who has long worked to distribute malaria-preventing mosquito nets in Africa, has kicked off No Malaria, a $100 million campaign to combat the disease. The church has already contributed $6 million to Nothing But Nets, and is working with the UN Foundation, which asked the United Methodists to guide malaria prevention and treatment efforts through their network of churches, clinics and hospitals in Africa. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (5/2) Top five news stories selected by UN Wire readers in the past week. - Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.
- Gulf oil spill is "potentially unprecedented" disaster
BP, the oil giant that owned the lease to the Deepwater Horizon rig that sank in the Gulf of Mexico, has pledged to assume the costs for cleanup and recovery in the wake of what may prove to be be the largest oil spill in history. BP officials have identified a worst-case scenario that would require the spill to be contained for three months, though the cleanup and recovery effort will take far longer. U.S. President Barack Obama -- who has in the past expressed support for offshore drilling -- described the spill as a "potentially unprecedented" disaster. BBC (5/3) , BBC (5/3) - Tanzania to test new drought-resistant corn crop
Eastern and South African countries are confident that a new technology to be tested by Tanzania will greatly enhance their ability to grow corn -- a primary staple -- despite drought. Tanzanian officials believe that by planting biotechnologically fertilized seeds, subsistence farmers will be able to sustain crops even through the country's terrific drought periods. The key to sustainability in this technology is its "scale-neutral applicability" -- subsistence farmers may plant it as easily as large corporate farms. AllAfrica Global Media (5/2) - Yemeni clerics denounce proposed child bride law
The death of a 13-year-old girl after being raped by her older husband has galvanized discussion in Yemen over a proposed law to raise the legal marriage age to 18. However, conservative clerics have used the the death of Elham Assi as means to rally opponents of a change to the country's marriage laws and denounce the proposal as the imposition of a Western rights agenda and "un-Islamic." Foreign Policy (free registration) (4/30) - Efforts are under way to create legally enforceable rights instrument
University of California at Berkeley professor Kirk Boyd is spearheading efforts to draft an International Convention on Human Rights as a way to provide a legally enforceable framework for rights protections. The effort builds upon the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights from 1948, but also includes a section on environmental rights. The Toronto Star (5/2) - Insurgents go after Somali pirates
In a move that pits two of the fiercest fighting groups in East Africa against one another, the Somali militant group Hizbul Islam seized the pirate cove of Xarardheere, potentially placing a claim on the lucrative piracy trade before other military groups, such as al-Shabaab. Though neither Hizbul Islam nor al-Shabaab has displayed any piratical tendencies, maritime experts believe that Somali pirates have earned more than $100 million in ransoms -- an irresistible income in a country with virtually no economy. AlertNet.org/Reuters (5/2) , The Independent (London) (5/3) , The New York Times (free registration) (5/2) - Kurdistan looks for leverage in next Iraqi government
Though Iraqi incumbent President Nouri al-Maliki and his main challenger, Ayad Allawi, are still struggling through recounts to determine who will lead the next Iraqi government coalition, one leader has been able to use the stalled election results to press his own advantage: Kurdish President Massoud Barzani. Barzani has demanded that Iraq by governed through a federalist system, one that would give the semiautonomous Kurdistan region even greater self-rule. The New York Times (free registration) (5/2)
- Reader Poll: To achieve Millennium Development Goal #5, improving maternal health, international organizations should focus their efforts on which of the following:
 | Improving emergency obstetric care. | | Improving prenatal care. | | Helping girls to stay in school. | | Preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission. |
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