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- UN questions Nepalese ministerial appointment
The United Nations Human Rights Office has criticized a decision by Nepalese authorities to appoint Agni Sapkota as minister of information and communications as a failure to honor commitments to investigate human rights abuses during the country's civil war. Sapkota, a former Maoist rebel commander, is the subject of criminal proceedings for his possible role in an abduction and murder case. The Washington Post/The Associated Press (5/6)       - Libya rebel supporters contend with UN sanctions
United Nations sanctions against Libya are making it difficult for countries to provide support to rebels fighting against Moammar Gadhafi's government. Western and Arab governments said Thursday they would unfreeze hundreds of millions of dollars to help rebels continue their fight. Reuters (5/5) - New initiative aims at cookstove pollution
The United Nations Foundation's Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is working to raise awareness of the health, economic and social impacts of indoor pollution, and aims to provide 100 million clean cookstoves by 2020. Two million people die every year as a result of exposure to smoke from open fires or crude stoves using solid fuels in their homes. The Lancet (5/7) - Annan: African leaders are wasting economic growth
The rapid economic growth across Africa is at risk of being squandered by leaders who are more intent on clinging to power than promoting the health and welfare of their people, Kofi Annan, former UN secretary-general, said at a World Economic Forum meeting in South Africa. Growth across the continent is averaging 5.5%, he said, but too little is being done to create jobs for young people, or invest in manufacturing and infrastructure. BBC (5/5) - Design competition seeks stable housing for the poor
A business professor and online marketing consultant have partnered to run an Internet competition for house designs that cost only $300 to implement in the hopes of eventually making winning designs available throughout the developing world. Designs need to include space to sleep and cook, be resistant to natural disasters and envisage the use of materials that can withstand the elements for at least five decades. The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (5/6) - Japan to shut down Hamaoka plant
Another nuclear plant in Japan has been ordered to shut down amid fears that another major earthquake could trigger yet another nuclear crisis. Operations at the plant in Hamaoka -- located about 120 miles south of Tokyo, an area that seismologists say is overdue for a powerful quake -- will be suspended until new safety measures are put in place. BBC (5/6) - Bahrain is prodded by UN to free political activists
The Bahrain regime is being pressured by Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, to release political activists detained since its bloody crackdown on anti-government protests. Pillay also is calling for an independent probe into allegations of widespread torture against detainees -- more than 1,000 of whom are believed to be held, and the whereabouts of some 50 are unknown. Al-Jazeera (5/5) - Gadhafi regime assets to help fund Libyan rebels
The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is working with the U.S. Congress to pass a new law that would free up some $30 billion in frozen assets of the Libyan regime of Moammar Gadhafi, a portion of which would be steered to the country's rebel movement. Talks in Rome among the Libyan international contact group yielded a temporary fund through which funds could be delivered for food, medicine, military salaries and other basic supplies -- but, ostensibly, not for weapons. BBC (5/5), The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model) (5/6) - Bin Laden apparently plotted 9/11 anniversary attack
Osama bin Laden played a direct role in planning terrorist attacks despite his seclusion for five years in a fortified compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, U.S. officials say. Hand-written documents seized by the American commandos who killed the former al-Qaida leader on Monday show that an attack on a U.S. train was being considered for the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (5/5), BBC (5/6) - Pakistani military grapples with harsh criticisms
Pakistani military officials are scrambling to address public criticism surrounding Osama bin Laden and his family. The military is facing allegations of collusion from abroad and fierce questioning at home over how an American operation was able to unfold without Pakistan's knowledge. The Guardian (London) (5/5)
- How does a celebrity endorsement or partnership affect your likelihood to take action for an issue campaign?
| Neither positive nor negative influence |  58.07% | | Somewhat positive influence |  18.49% | | Somewhat negative influence |  10.16% | | Strong negative influence |  7.29% | | Strong positive influence |  5.99% | |
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