| |
- Will Iraq need UN peacekeepers?
The UN may need to deploy peacekeeping troops in Iraq to provide stability as U.S. troops complete a scheduled withdrawal by the end of 2011, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, says. UN officials are looking to broker an agreement in Iraq's northern Kurdish region, where observers say significant oil deposits, ethnic strife and land disputes hold the greatest potential for a descent into open warfare. Google/The Associated Press (7/6)       - Reforming the UN mission in DRC
 Residents in the Democratic Republic of Congo complain the UN peacekeeping operation has failed to stem violence -- and in some cases has contributed to it -- and argue that a shift in priorities to empower local citizens is needed, writes activist Annie Rashidi-Mulumba. MONUC drew fire from international rights organizations in 2009 for supporting a Congolese military operation that ignited a wave of violence against civilians, and has recorded 150 allegations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers. The Daily Beast (7/6)  - Tuberculosis drugs may fight tropical diseases
Drug treatments being developed to fight tuberculosis may help treat sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and leshmaniasis, the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development and Drugs for Neglected Diseases say. The two have launched a combined effort with support from the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation to share information and streamline development of treatments. AlertNet.org/Reuters (7/7) - Myanmar reports presence of plague
Myanmar's Health Ministry has issued a warning after discovering dead rats infected with bubonic plague in a government office in Naypyitaw. The discovery follows notices carried by state-owned newspapers July 1 cautioning residents about the dangers of plague and urging people to report any cases to health authorities. AlertNet.org/Reuters (7/7) - Report dismisses skeptics' claims on IPCC data
The University of East Anglia's Independent Climate Change Email Review has been cleared by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which found that UEA scientists did not manipulate data -- as climate denialists and critics allege. After months spent interviewing scientists from the university and in particular the Climatic Research Unit, the panelists found a persistent failure to comply openly with Freedom of Information requests but defended the scientists' honesty. BBC (7/7) - Group implicates Western gas giants in Myanmar abuses
Chevron and Total are complicit in human rights violations occurring in Myanmar as a result of their business operations, Earth Rights International charges in a new report. Soldiers guarding the companies' natural gas pipeline have committed murder and coerced residents into hard labor, the group said, with the companies providing billions of dollars in revenue to prop up a repressive government. Both companies reject any association with abuses and have invested in community-development programs. TIME (7/6) - Obama, Netanyahu map a way forward
In a one-on-one visit with U.S. President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he expects direct negotiations with Palestinians to begin within a matter of weeks. Obama embraced Netanyahu's comments in a meeting seen as the first public makeup session between the U.S. and Israel since the disastrous Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. The talks come at a significant time, as the Israeli settlement freeze and the "proximity talks" between Israel and Palestine are each set to expire in September -- while Turkey will assume the leadership of the UN Security Council the next month. The New York Times (free registration) (7/6) , The Washington Post (7/7) - U.S., Russia mull spy swap
U.S. and Russian diplomats are discussing an agreement that would see Russia exchange Igor Sutyagin, an academic convicted of spying for the U.S., for the suspected Russian spies arrested in the U.S. in June. A scheduled hearing for some of the alleged spies was postponed, while Sutyagin was moved unexpectedly from a prison in northern Russia to a cell in Moscow in apparent preparation for his release. No other U.S. spies in Russia have been named as a part of the potential deal. The Wall Street Journal (7/7) - Cross-Korean capitalist complex endures despite tensions
Despite high tensions on the Korean peninsula in the aftermath of the sinking of a South Korean warship by a suspected North Korean torpedo, North Korea still permits South Koreans to enter the Kaesong Industrial Complex -- a capitalist enclave where mostly South Korean companies employ tens of thousands of North Korean workers. Though the countries have pursued one another with diplomatic threats, economic sanctions and UN Security Council reprimands, they have been reluctant to interfere with a site valuable to each of them -- as a source of income for the North and a symbol of reunification for the South. The New York Times (free registration) (7/6) - Nepalese military, rebels are unable to find a way toward new government
Despite the Maoist victory in the 2008 elections and a peace agreement between the Nepalese military and Maoist rebels that has endured since 2006, neither faction is able to agree on how the Maoist government can move forward and govern -- leading to an intense political stalemate in Nepal. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned in the face of demands from the Maoists that all 19,600 rebels be admitted into the Nepalese military and a military leadership that insists the rebels be disbanded and sent home. Thousands of those rebels live in UN-monitored camps, a temporary solution that has become permanent. The Washington Post (7/7)  | |  | | | | | | | | Executive Assistant, Energy Climate | United Nations Foundation (UNF) / Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | COUNTRY AND REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES, FAMINE EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS | ARD, Inc. | Multiple Locations Worldwide, Guatemala | | Communications Director, Global Health | United Nations Foundation (UNF) / Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | Deputy Executive Director, Communications and Public Affairs | United Nations Foundation (UNF) / Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | Executive Director | Cultural Survival | Cambridge, MA | | | |  | |  | |
- Queen Elizabeth II returned to the United Nations this week after a 53-year absence. Should other heads of state play an active role at the UN?
 | Yes | | No |
|
 | Key Sites
| | |
This SmartBrief was created for eleccion@yahoogroups.com
| | | About UN WIRE | | UN Wire is a free service sponsored by the United Nations Foundation which is dedicated to supporting the United Nations' efforts to address the most pressing humanitarian, socioeconomic and environmental challenges facing the world today. | | | | | | | | Recent UN Wire Issues: - Tuesday, July 06, 2010
- Friday, July 02, 2010
- Thursday, July 01, 2010
- Wednesday, June 30, 2010
- Tuesday, June 29, 2010
| | | Lead Editor: Adam Mazmanian
Contributing Editor: Juliette Terzieff | Kriston Dean Capps
Mailing Address:
SmartBrief, Inc.®, 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005 | | | | | | © 1999-2010 SmartBrief, Inc.® Legal Information | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment