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- Evaluating Ban's first term
 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has made clear progress on some of the goals he made when elected for a first term and faces tough challenges as he begins a second. Increased international debate on climate change, cohesiveness on Millennium Development Goals and rapid action in Libya are examples of where Ban's consensus-building style has been most effective. TIME/Global Spin blog (6/22)       - Ban: Security Council should move on Syria unrest
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that a statement or resolution by the world body's Security Council would be "very helpful" in pressuring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop the carnage that has defined his regime's crackdown on ongoing anti-government protests. "I do not see much credibility [in] what he has been saying, because the situation has been continuing like this way, and how long should the situation be going [on in] this way," Ban told reporters on Wednesday. Bloomberg (6/22), AlertNet/Reuters (6/22)  - Fears of deadly cholera epidemic in Congo's capital
Three new cases of cholera have been diagnosed in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa, the second most populous city in sub-Saharan Africa, as health officials warned of an epidemic of the disease that already has struck down 32 people. "People are living in very precarious conditions, there are zones along the river which are very exposed," said a World Health Organization spokesman. Reuters (6/22) - Child marriages decline in joint India-UN effort
Fewer child marriages have been recorded this wedding season in a region near Hyderabad, India, after government officials and UNICEF combined in less than two months to stop 400 such marriages between brides and grooms ranging in age from 12 to 18. The main deterrent has been the threat of considerable fines for parents, who are compelled to sign a bond saying they would not perform marriages before the legal ages of 18 and 21 for women and men, respectively. The Times of India/Transnational News Navigator (6/19)  | - Senegal farmers use trees to fight climate change
Senegalese farmers in Khatre Sy have joined together to zone off sections of land where trees are allowed to flourish in a bid to restore fertility to the area's soil and fight off the effects of climate change. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization is supporting acacia tree-planting initiatives in 44 Senegalese villages to help ensure sustainable livelihoods for residents and combat desertification. AlertNet (6/22) - 5 years of mHealth
The United Nations Foundation-Vodafone Foundation Technology Partnership has supported the training and connectivity of thousands of health and disaster relief specialists and helped pilot mHealth projects in more than a dozen countries during the last five years, according to a new report released this week. The report, Mobilizing Development, looks at how the five-year, $28 million partnership has worked to advance the use of mobile technologies to further health, development and disaster response goals. UN Dispatch (6/22), Government Health IT online (6/23)  | - Sudanese army arrests UN staff
Some 73,000 people have fled the Southern Kordofan border state of Sudan during the more than two weeks of fighting between army and southern-aligned forces, according to the United Nations. The government -- less than three weeks before the country's south is slated to officially secede -- arrested six UN staff of southern origin on Wednesday as the world body was relocating 23 of its Sudanese UN staff to the south. AlertNet/Reuters (6/22), Google/Agence France-Presse (6/22) - Karzai welcomes U.S. plan for Afghan withdrawal
European leaders have joined Afghan President Hamid Karzai in welcoming U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to withdraw one-third of U.S. troops by September 2012. Karzai thanked international troops for their support and said Afghan forces would be ready to assume full control over the country's security in 2014 when full troop withdrawal is scheduled. The Washington Post (6/23), The Guardian (London) (6/23) - Honoring Turner's generosity
To commemorate United Nations Public Service Day, the Encyclopedia Britannica blog looks back on the 1997 pledge of $1 billion to support the United Nations -- a gift that ended up establishing the United Nations Foundation. Turner's gift didn't just help establish one organization -- it raised the stakes on philanthropy worldwide. Britannica Blog (6/23)
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Ai Weiwei, the world-renowned Chinese artist and activist, was released Wednesday after more than two months in custody following his guilty plea to charges of tax evasion. Observers say that while Chinese officials could be seen to have caved to international pressure, the decision to release Ai might have more to do with the machinations of a domestic power struggle. 
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