| |
- Israel-Lebanon clashes yield rival UN protests
Protests have been filed with the United Nations over last weekend's deadly clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian demonstrators on the Israel-Lebanon border -- with Lebanon accusing Israel of using excessive force against unarmed civilians, and Israel accusing Lebanon and Syria in the deaths of 14, and the injuries to hundreds. The United States accused Syria of inciting the border clashes in order to draw attention away from its bloody, weeks-old crackdown on anti-government protesters. Google/Agence France-Presse (5/16), Reuters (5/16)       - Former UN chief Annan assesses legacy, Arab spring
 In a wide-ranging interview, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he supports the world body's decision to intervene in Libya to protect civilians, but says the "very difficult and awkward" initiative is now tinged by "the sense that they've crossed a line and are now part of the civil war and fighting on one side of the civil war." He adds that the popular revolt there, and across North Africa and the Middle East, reminds him of the process decolonization "where one country gets independence and everybody else wants it." Financial Times (tiered subscription model) (5/16)  - Gates calls for "decade of vaccines"
Stepped up efforts by all governments worldwide to vaccinate and immunize their people could lead to 10 million fewer deaths by 2020, Microsoft founder Bill Gates told the World Health Assembly in Geneva. Gates called for a "decade of vaccines," and stressed the importance of ensuring the delivery of vaccines by health care workers in developing countries. Reuters (5/17), Agence France-Presse (5/16) - Solar energy powers remote parts of Bangladesh
Almost a million homes and businesses in rural Bangladesh have been outfitted with solar energy power sources, the World Bank says. The bank and other donors have backed government efforts to promote solar energy as a tool to simultaneously battle poverty and climate change. AlertNet/Reuters (5/16) - Japan nuclear operator to pay victims amid distrust
The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan must pay compensation to the evacuees from the 20-kilometer exclusion zone by the end of May, according to a government plan. The finalization of a timetable for claims of specific compensation, as well as health screenings and temporary housing, comes amid a retrenched belief among the Japanese populace that the government, regulators and operators colluded to underestimate or hide seismic dangers to nuclear plants in order to avoid costly upgrades. Reuters (5/16), The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (5/16)  | - Myanmar is pressed by UN on prisoners
The government of Myanmar must release all of its estimated 2,200 political prisoners in order to move forward, and meet the needs of its people, according to a UN special envoy. The announcement by the country's president of a general amnesty reducing prison sentences by one year -- a move observers say might not apply to political prisoners -- was characterized by a human rights group as "pathetic." United Press International (5/16), BBC (5/17) - UN to assess human rights situation in Turkmenistan
Human rights groups are publishing reports from Turkmenistan in advance of a meeting in Geneva of the UN Committee Against Torture, which is slated to review the rights record of the Central Asian country. The reports draw attention to a number of issues, among them an absence of political reform and the punishment of civil rights activists in disease-rife jails, psychiatric units and internal exile. BBC (5/16) - NATO ramps up bombing of Libya
NATO accelerated strikes on Libyan targets said to lay at the heart of the regime of Moammar Gadhafi within hours of the announcement by the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court that he was seeking a warrant for the strongman's arrest for alleged war crimes. Arrest warrants also are being sought for Gadhafi's intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, and his son, Saif al-Islam, both of whom are accused of helping to orchestrate a campaign of mass murder to put down popular revolt. The Guardian (London) (5/17)  | |  | | | | | | Program Administrator - Project on Justice in Times of Transition, Institute for Global Leadership | Tufts University | Medford, MA | | Regional Leader, East Asia | World Vision International | Bangkok, Thailand | | Communications Director, Strategic Energy and Climate Initiatives | United Nations Foundations | Washington DC, DC | | Senior Associate, Planning and Learning | United Nations Foundations | Washington, DC | | Senior Communications Officer, Global Health | United Nations Foundation | Washington, DC | | Communications Officer, (UNA) | United Nations Foundation | Washington, DC | | Associate, Online Communications (UNA) | United Nations Foundation | Washington, DC | | | |  | |  |
|
 | Key Sites
| | |
This SmartBrief was created for eleccion@yahoogroups.com
| Advertise With Us | Amy DiElsi
Director for UN Foundation Communications
United Nations Foundation
1800 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
(D) 202-419-3230
(C) 202-492-3078
(F) 202-887-9021
www.unfoundation.org | | | | 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: - Monday, May 16, 2011
- Friday, May 13, 2011
- Thursday, May 12, 2011
- Wednesday, May 11, 2011
- Tuesday, May 10, 2011
| | | Lead Editor: Adam Mazmanian
Contributing Editor: Juliette Terzieff
Mailing Address:
SmartBrief, Inc.®, 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005 | | | | | | © 1999-2011 SmartBrief, Inc.® Legal Information | | |
Palestinian statehood -- more than 60 years after the creation of the Israeli state -- remains a promise unfulfilled, writes Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian National Authority, in an opinion piece in The New York Times. Palestinians will seek UN recognition in September. 
No comments:
Post a Comment