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- Amnesty urges UN to review arms transports
The United Nations should work to include tougher measures to control the transport of arms and assign responsibility for arms' supply chains as part of its effort to craft an international arms trade treaty, Amnesty International says in a report. Weak shipping procedures are allowing the illegal transport of arms to continue across borders, in spite of countries' commitment to halt the transfers of weapons to countries where they might be used to commit abuses, Amnesty said. Google/Agence France-Presse (7/18)       - U.S. pushes for UN council recognition for gay-rights group
The U.S. is urging the UN Economic and Social Council to provide the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission with accreditation, which would allow it to operate at the UN -- despite opposition from Egypt. The organization, headquartered in the U.S., has sought official status with the council since 2007. Egypt prevented the council from taking action last night by voting not to take any action on the group's application. Google/The Associated Press (7/17)  - Funding is a major focus for HIV/AIDS conference
Government cuts to funding for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and health infrastructure programs have limited the number of people receiving lifesaving drugs, falling short of world leaders' goal of universal treatment by 2010, said officials at an international HIV/AIDS conference. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Michel Kazatchkine, head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, urged governments to refrain from trimming their AIDS budgets. The Global Fund is seeking $20 billion to sustain their work for the next three years. AlertNet.org/Reuters (7/18) - Scientists use gene modification to create malaria-immune mosquito
 Genetically modified mosquitoes that cannot be infected by malaria-causing parasites may be the key to eradicating the disease, U.S. scientists report in the journal PLoS Pathogens. Researchers say they successfully bred mosquitoes with an altered insulin-production gene that subsequently demonstrated 100% immunity to malaria parasites. Los Angeles Times (7/17) - Thailand deploys wasps to defend cassava crop
Thai farmers have turned to a new weapon to fight a plague of mealybugs that now threatens its valuable cassava crop: miniature wasps. Entomologists have released about 250,000 wasps to attack and lay eggs in the mealybugs, in hopes of preventing the pests from destroying the crop's $1.5 billion harvest. Similar efforts to stamp out mealybug blights have been successful in Asia and Africa, but researchers note that African cassava crops now face a new plague -- a disease called brown streak that does not yet have a cure. The New York Times (free registration) (7/18) 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.
- Engineers detect seepage at capped BP well
Retired U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen ordered BP to provide a him with plan for reopening the recently capped well in the Gulf of Mexico if reports of seepage around the cap are confirmed. Engineers detected seepage on the ocean floor that could be methane or oil and may undermine the heavy cap that has prevented oil flow since last week. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, who is visiting the U.S. this week, will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama to discuss the well issue, which has complicated the traditionally close alliance between the U.S. and U.K. BBC (7/19) , The New York Times (free registration)/Reuters (7/18) - Guatemala is waging war to save rain forest
Large portions of the Guatemalan rain forest are under threat from poachers, cattle ranchers and other illicit enterprises, endangering conservation efforts and President Álvaro Colom's plan to make the region a prime eco-tourism destination. Guatemalan authorities have had limited success dismantling squatter camps and illegal airstrips, but need more personnel and equipment to enforce the law and challenge organized criminal enterprises. The New York Times (free registration) (7/17) - HRW: Assad has failed to improve Syria's record
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has done little to improve his country's human-rights record in his 10 years as leader of Syria, despite making promises when he came to power about increasing transparency, Human Rights Watch says in a report. Assad's government has continued to endorse political repression, strict controls on the media and routine use of torture by government security forces, the report charges. The Guardian (London) (7/16) , Al-Jazeera (7/16) - Countries band together for cybersecurity
A group of 15 countries has agreed to preliminary steps for fostering mutual cybersecurity, including calling on the United Nations to help craft international Internet behavioral norms and joint efforts to help developing countries protect their computer systems. The group includes the U.S., Brazil, India, South Africa, China, U.K., Russia and France. The Washington Post (7/17) - Clinton ushers in Afghanistan-Pakistan trade agreement
Just hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Islamabad for a two-day visit, officials from the U.S., Afghanistan and Pakistan announced final agreement on an Afghanistan-Pakistan trade pact several years in the making. The Obama administration hopes that investment in Pakistan -- through trade agreements and a $500 million U.S. aid package to be unveiled today -- will convince Pakistani authorities to align their security and international priorities with U.S. interests. Pakistan has emerged as a base for militants fighting in Afghanistan, such as the Haqqani network in Pakistan's tribal border regions. The Washington Post (7/18) - Tax dodgers deprive Pakistan of resources to fight insurgency
Relatively few people among Pakistan's wealthy elite ever pay income tax, a situation that has led to dramatic income inequality, as well as diminished coffers for the state. Inequality and a lack of public-sector goods or services drive conditions that lead to the spread of extremism and deprive the government of resources that could be used to fight the insurgency. In an effort to collect taxes from the wealthy, one board hired transgender individuals to shame defaulters into paying. The New York Times (free registration) (7/18) , NYTimes.com/At War blog (7/18)  | |  | | | | | | |  |  MSH SEEKS STAFF FOR HEALTH PROJECT IN MALAWI | Management Sciences for Health | Lilongwe, Malawi | | Researcher, U.S. Immigration Policy/Criminal Justice | Human Rights Watch | New York, NY | | Director of Corporate Relations | United Nations Foundations | Washington DC, DC | | Web Producer/Project Manager | United Nations Foundation (UNF)/Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | Director, Corporate Relations | 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 Assistant, Energy Climate | United Nations Foundation (UNF) / Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | | |  | |  | |
 | - The UN Secretary-General and his climate finance advisers are exploring private financing options to deliver resources to combat climate change. Developing countries pledged "fast-start" financing -- $10 billion per year for the next three years, growing to $100 billion annually by 2020 -- for those nations least responsible for, and most affected by, climate changes.
Should private donors contribute to aid to mitigate the effects of climate change in developing countries?
 | Yes -- it is everyone's responsibility | | No -- governments should find their own financing |
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