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- Opening eyes to long-term development problems
 The problems to which the world's political leaders have closed their eyes for decades can no longer be ignored: Global warming, population growth, unemployment and social and economic disparities are upon us, writes Timothy E. Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation. "Addressing these trends requires patient, sustained engagement over a period of decades. ... It's time we once again talk about them and take them on," he writes. The Huffington Post (7/13)      - The UN and private security firms
 A report published by the Global Policy Forum and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation concludes that private military and security contractors are not necessarily appropriate partners for the United Nations, writes David Isenberg. UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said contracting policies are "appropriate" and improving; UN spending on such services increased 77% in 2010. BBC (7/11), The Huffington Post (7/11) - Red Cross: Syria in midst of civil war
 The International Red Cross on Sunday formally declared the conflict in Syria a civil war as Russia reiterated its support for President Bashar Assad, insisting that a "very significant part" of the population still supported him despite nearly a year and a half of violence. United Nations monitors said the killings in the village of Tremseh began when security forces targeted rebels, not civilians, while UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said weapons deliveries on both sides are deepening the conflict. USA TODAY/The Associated Press (7/15), United Press International (7/16), Reuters (7/2), BBC (7/16) - Congolese militants challenge UN as border deal reached
M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo said in a letter that they would "set up defenses against the UN troops, their infrastructure and staffers" if the world body's 20,000-strong peacekeeping mission continues its bombardment in the province of North Kivu, where the rebels had overrun villages. Congolese and Rwandan leaders have reached a deal an African Union summit to allow an international force to patrol their borders. ABC News/The Associated Press (7/15), BBC (7/15) - Preventing the next pandemic
The rise of epidemics is due primarily to human encroachment into nature, since most infectious diseases originate in animals, this article says, which is why public health experts are viewing disease as an ecological issue. Researchers with the Predict project of the U.S. Agency for International Development are documenting viruses from wildlife in the hope of aiding forecasting and prevention. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (7/14) - GM mosquitoes: Does reward outweigh risk?
Genetically modified mosquitoes, bred by a British biotech company to die swiftly along with their offspring without passing on diseases such as dengue fever, have been introduced to wild mosquito populations in Brazil, Malaysia and the Cayman Islands. The method -- which scientists hope will help contain other mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria -- has its critics. Mail & Guardian (South Africa) (7/15) - Sharp gains seen in education for Afghan girls
A decade ago, less than 1 million Afghan children were enrolled in school, few of them girls. Today, about 2.5 million girls alone are enrolled in school, according to the country's Education Ministry. Still, girls face significant obstacles to education, especially in the Taliban-controlled east. Al-Jazeera/Asia blog (7/13) - Market-changing natural gas on global ascent
Natural gas will remain subordinate to oil in world energy markets through 2035, according to projections. But the world is experiencing a bonanza in production of unconventional sources of gas, transforming the coming decades into "the century of gas," reports The Economist. The Economist (7/14) - Laos stops construction of Mekong dam
The government of Laos for the first time officially halted construction of a controversial $3.5 billion dam on the lower Mekong River amid complaints, chiefly from Vietnam and Cambodia, that the project would hinder the migration of fish and harm the river communities whose livelihoods depend on them. Thailand would receive nearly all the electricity generated by the dam. AlertNet/Reuters (7/13) - Iran nuclear talks a "chicken and egg conundrum"
The success of efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency to gain access to Iranian sites, officials and documents linked to the country's nuclear program appears to hinge on the progress of the country's intermittent talks with the U.S., France, Russia, Germany, Britain and China. "We are in a chicken and egg conundrum, where Iran's nuclear crisis cannot be resolved without the IAEA giving Iran a clean slate, but that will not happen until the crisis is resolved," said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group. Reuters (7/15) 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.
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