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- UN accuses North Korea of illegal nuclear technology trade
Nearing the end of the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference, a UN panel submitted a report accusing North Korea of selling nuclear and missile technology to Iran, Syria and Myanmar. According to the report, the rogue nuclear regime has successfully circumnavigated sanctions imposed by the UN after North Korea conducted illegal nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 by replacing banned individuals and entities and resuming illegal weapons trade -- including trade with international criminal organizations as well as legitimate partners. BBC (5/28)       - Eleventh-hour UN draft at NPT conference
Facing a stalemate after a monthlong conference, the UN produced a new eleventh-hour draft on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on the final day of the conference that would reaffirm the treaty's validity. The NPT offers incentives for nuclear nations to begin or speed efforts to disarm while providing non-nuclear nations assistance in establishing peaceful nuclear energy. The NPT draft does not resolve all problems regarding nuclear security -- in particular a time limit for disarmament supported by many non-aligned states but rejected by China, France, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S. Google/Agence France-Presse (5/27)  - MSF sounds warning over HIV/AIDS funding cuts
Cuts in donor funding are forcing medical professionals to turn away HIV/AIDS patients, decreasing the availability of medicine, and threatening gains against the spread of the disease in Africa, Medecins Sans Frontieres warns in a new report. Rich donors need to make more robust commitments despite ongoing global economic woes, the group says. AlertNet.org/Reuters (5/27) , Google (5/27) - Breakthrough Ebola treatment protects monkeys from virus
In an experimental study conducted at Boston University, scientists injected monkeys with massive, lethal doses as well as a drug designed to protect them -- and the monkeys all survived. The monkeys received an injection of the deadly Zaire strain of Ebola that was 30,000 times more powerful than a fatal dose, and a drug that used RNA to attack the virus's replication sequence. Virologists called the treatment not merely a milestone in the study of Ebola prevention but for the prevention of all viral hemorrhagic fevers, including Marburg, Lassa and Crimean-Congo fever. National Public Radio (text and audio) (5/28) - Researchers advocate "medical grade" heroin for chronic addicts
 The carefully monitored provision of medical grade heroin to chronic addicts is more effective than the use of methadone to keep users in drug rehabilitation programs, researchers report in The Lancet journal. This strategy, according to the study, cuts the addicts' supplemental use of street heroin and can help decrease the spread of HIV/AIDS among drug users. BBC (5/28) , Reuters (5/27)  | - 2 more days to test "top kill" success
It will be another two days before U.S. and BP officials will be able to determine the success of the "top kill" strategy to stop the Gulf oil spill -- an effort that involves injecting mud directly into the well to slow and clog the spill. U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen says that if the top-kill maneuver is able to control the oil pressure for a sustained time, officials will plug the well with a cement cap. But the damage has already been done, as an animated graphic demonstrating the extent of the oil spill shows. Google/The Associated Press (5/28) , The Times-Picayune (New Orleans) (5/28) - Poor countries offer few protections for gay rights
Members of gay communities in poor countries continue to face assaults on their rights from a combination of legislative restrictions and broad societal disdain. More than six dozen countries have laws that criminalize consensual gay relationships with several, including Uganda, Burundi and Zimbabwe, mulling additional anti-gay legislation. Such laws, opponents charge, help drive violence against gays which in turn forces them underground and hobbles efforts to address public health concerns. The Economist (5/27) - Goldstone speaks to milestones, missteps of Gaza war tribunal
South African Judge Richard Goldstone, who led war crimes tribunals in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia before accepting a post investigating Israel's war against Gaza in 2009, speaks to Newsweek in an interview -- and expresses some regrets about his involvement with the tribunal. Goldstone acknowledges that the UN Human Rights Council, which launched the Gaza probe, is seen as anti-Israel within the Jewish community -- a criticism that has tarnished his own reputation. Goldstone says that his own involvement with the HRC was marked by two significant changes: the involvement of the U.S. and an even-handed approach to investigating war crimes by both Hamas and Israel. Newsweek (5/27) - UN investigator faults Colombia's efforts against extrajudicial killings
Colombian security forces have committed hundreds of staged murders over the last decade where civilians were dressed to resemble rebel fighters, and authorities have failed to take sufficient action against perpetrators, Philip Alston, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, says in a report. The frequency of staged deaths has dropped since authorities began to crack down on such practices in 2007, but more than 90% of those involved still go unpunished, according to Alston. Google/The Associated Press (5/27)  | - China pledges impartiality on Korean crisis
Though China was angered by North Korea's second rogue nuclear test and despite the failure of efforts to revive six-party talks with North Korea, China has refused to take a hard stance against North Korea's provocative torpedo attack on a South Korean warship -- evidence of which has surfaced and inflamed tensions between North Korea and South Korea. Though China has vowed impartiality, it fears the outcome of a North Korean collapse, which could include a civil war between opposing factions of the Kim family as well as uncoordinated military efforts in North Korea by China, the U.S. and South Korea. North Korea's collapse would, in addition, represent an economic crisis for its neighbors. The Economist (5/27) , The New York Times (free registration) (5/28) - What is the primary benefit of UN peacekeeping operations?
| Maintaining stability abroad through conflict prevention and peacemaking |  43.47% | | Sharing the burden of promoting international security with other countries in the world |  30.09% | | Cost-effective solutions for preventing conflict and keeping peace |  20.97% | | Promotion of democratic governance by supporting free and fair elections |  5.47% | - UN WIRE will not be published Monday
In observance of Memorial Day in the U.S., UN WIRE will not be published Monday, May 31. Publication will resume Tuesday. |
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