| |  | |  UN monitors patrol Syria amid renewed shelling An advance guard of six military observers from the United Nations were expected to begin patrols today in Syria to monitor compliance with a fragile truce that was being threatened by reported government bombardment of the cities of Homs and Hama, among other areas. The UN -- which traditionally has been reluctant to send peacekeepers into situations as volatile as that in Syria, where no durable political settlement is on the horizon -- was eventually expected to send 250 monitors. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (4/16), ForeignPolicy.com/Turtle Bay blog (4/14)     
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|  | "As of 11:20 AM EDT on April 14th, 2012, the first resolution on Syria, Resolution 2042, was adopted by the United Nations Security Council, after a year of protests and conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic. The rare weekend meeting of the Council, chaired by Ambassador Susan Rice of the United States of America, comes as tensions in Syria continue to strain the brief cessation of violence." UN Dispatch | |
- UN rebuke is issued over N. Korea rocket bid
The UN Security Council today condemned the latest failed attempt by North Korea to launch a long-range rocket and suggested that a blacklist be expanded to include various individuals and businesses from the country. The botched launch Friday was billed as the centerpiece of celebrations of the late founder, Kim Il Sung, but resulted in a public relations disaster. Reuters (4/16), The Economist/Banyan blog (4/13) - Swaziland battles misinformation in AIDS fight
The African mountain kingdom of Swaziland registers the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world -- affecting a staggering 1 in 4 adults. "HIV medication is getting better because we have drugs, but the people are not using protection so they are still spreading the virus," says Ncamsile Mkhwanazi, a nurse in a village clinic. "Most are women. Men don't come. Swazi men are still reluctant to be tested." The Guardian (London) (4/11) - Girl's suicide in Morocco tests marriage laws
The groundswell of outrage in Morocco in the wake of the suicide of a 15-year-old Moroccan girl forced to marry her rapist is posing a challenge not only to the country's marriage laws, but Islamic tradition. The case is emblematic of tensions across the Middle East and North Africa since the Arab Spring, where new Islamic leaders are being confronted by modernizing Western principles. The Washington Post (4/15)  | - Ax fuel subsidies to promote growth, UNDP says
The lessons after the collapse of the Soviet Union show that the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies could not only reduce the levels of greenhouse gases, but provide a blueprint for more sustainable development that reduces inequality, waste and the overuse of natural resources, according to a report by the UN Development Program. "Right now, we are on an unsustainable path, and at some point that will be obvious to everyone," said Balazs Horvath, lead author of the report. "When pressures are imminent enough, politicians will begin scrambling around to do something. And at that point, luck favors the prepared." AlertNet (4/13) 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.
- Afghanistan is rocked by major rebel attacks
Two Afghan police officers were killed, and at least 14 were injured, in attacks Sunday by heavily armed Taliban against four embassies and police stations in Kabul and three eastern cities. President Hamid Karzai faulted NATO intelligence failures in the attacks -- the largest the country has seen in a decade -- in which four civilians also were reported killed and nine injured. The Wall Street Journal (4/16), Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription model) (4/15), BBC (4/16) - UNICEF is working to free child soldiers in S. Sudan
The estimated 2,000 child soldiers in militia groups in South Sudan, ages 12 to 18, could be freed within two years under a plan by which the groups are reintegrated into the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, one of the few national armies in the world identified by the United Nations as recruiting and using child soldiers. UNICEF and other agencies are providing incentives to keep the child soldiers from re-enlisting. AllAfrica Global Media/Inter Press Service (4/15)
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