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- UNESCO suspends Obiang award
UNESCO officials decided Tuesday to indefinitely delay the awarding of the UNESCO-Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences over concerns the UN agency's involvement provides legitimacy to Equatorial Guinea's dictatorial leader. Human-rights advocates, academics and diplomats had campaigned heavily against UNESCO's involvement. ForeignPolicy.com/Turtle Bay blog (6/15) , Google/The Associated Press (6/15)       - Secret agenda for the UN Security Council
The UN Security Council works to conceal the exact nature of its daily agenda, using vague language and imprecise notices to disguise meetings about tension on the Korean peninsula, refugees in Kyrgyzstan and other international security matters. Official placement on the UN Security Council confers an obligation to deal with the issue, leading China and Russia, for example, to block official meetings on Myanmar, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka from reaching the agenda. One analyst says that the off-the-book meetings have generated new and otherwise unlikely opportunities to discuss international issues. ForeignPolicy.com/Turtle Bay blog (6/15)  - Haiti's worries grow as storm season begins
Haitians are bracing for storm season after a flurry of tropical storms in recent years and January's devastating earthquake left the island country's coping mechanisms stretched to a breaking point. Residents complain Haitian authorities have been slow to make improvements to flood-prone areas like the city Gonaives despite extensive damage to infrastructure and homes long before the earthquake. The Miami Herald (free registration) (6/15) - Nurses provide HIV/AIDS care comparable to doctors
Shifting monitoring responsibilities for HIV/AIDS patients from doctors to nurses has a negligible effect on level of care and could help overcome a worldwide shortage of health care workers, according to a study by South African researchers. Known as "task-shifting," application of such practices has gained support from the World Health Organization. AlertNet.org/Reuters (6/15) - Can whale feces help address climate change?
The world's hundreds of thousands of sperm whales may make a significant contribution to the battle against global warming by promoting carbon absorption in oceans, Australian scientists report in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B. The whales' iron-rich feces promotes the growth of phytoplankton, which absorb carbon during photosynthesis and provide a food source for marine species. BBC (6/15) - Obama to meet with BP as Congress scolds other oil firms
In a televised address, U.S. President Barack Obama said that he will require BP to establish an escrow account to be administered by a third party in order to compensate Gulf Coast workers and families put out by the oil-spill crisis. Obama's meeting with BP executives, which he announced during his address, will be the first since the Deepwater Horizon explosion in April. Leaders of Shell, ConocoPhillips and other energy giants received much harsher words from Congress for filing, individually, nearly identical Gulf Coast oil-spill cleanup plans -- some of which included contact information for a deceased scientist and instructions on cleaning walruses, which are not native to the Gulf. BBC (6/16) , The Independent (London) (6/16)  | - Congress supports use of UN Human Rights Council to press Iran
In an unprecedented move marking the first anniversary of the troubled Iranian presidential election, Congress passed with unanimous consent a bipartisan resolution calling for the Obama administration to use the lever of the UN Human Rights Council against Iran. The resolution encourages U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to work with HRC to establish a system for monitoring human-rights violations in Iran to report back to HRC. U.S. President George W. Bush previously refused to join the HRC when it was established in 2006. ForeignPolicy.com/The Cable blog (6/14) - North Korea cautions UN on sinking response
North Korea's military will respond to any condemnation by the Security Council to the March sinking of a South Korean ship, the North's ambassador to the UN Sin Son-ho warned Tuesday. The U.S. and Japan are spearheading efforts to craft a Council resolution condemning the event. North Korea continues to dismiss allegations it was behind the sinking. The New York Times (free registration) (6/15) - Lashkar-e-Taiba targets Indians working in Afghanistan
The Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba has recently expanded its attacks against India to include Indian employees and government workers operating in Afghanistan -- an indication that the group intends to confront India outside the contested territory of Kashmir. Though Pakistan has testified that it no longer supports Lashkar-e-Taiba as it once did to fight in Kashmir, the range of their attacks in Afghanistan and other evidence has prompted intelligence officials to speculate that Lashkar-e-Taiba is operating as a Pakistani proxy to countermand Indian influence in Afghanistan. The New York Times (free registration) (6/15) - Explosion of drug violence leads to bloody week for Mexico
Hundreds of people have died over the past five days in Mexico in a swell in drug violence severe enough to prompt Mexican President Felipe Calderón to re-cement his pledge to prosecute the war against organized crime. Cartel assassins, local gangsters and federal officers have died in shootouts, highway ambushes and prison brawls -- including assaults against police and execution-style killings of drug addicts. The Washington Post (6/16) - Report: U.S. agencies are not coordinated on cybersecurity
The Department of Homeland Security, including its U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, has failed to coordinate with other agencies in improving the federal government's cybersecurity, a new report reveals. The DHS inspector general is expected to tell Congress today that the department's abilities have been limited by inadequate authority and staffing issues. The Wall Street Journal (6/16)  | |  | | | | | | | | Deputy Program Director | Human Rights Watch | New York, NY | | Online Communications Senior Associate, Public Affairs Girl Up Campaign | United Nations Foundation (UNF) / Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | Campaign Associate, Girl Up Campaign | United Nations Foundation (UNF) / Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | Communications Associate, Public Affairs Girl Up Campaign | United Nations Foundation (UNF) / Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | Systems Administrator | United Nations Foundation (UNF)/Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | Pledge Guarantee for Health (PGH) Associate | United Nations Foundation (UNF)/Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | Managing Director, Thought Leadership | United Nations Foundation (UNF) / Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | UNITED KINGDOM DIRECTOR | Human Rights Watch | London, United Kingdom | | | |  | |  | |
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