UN panel urges end to death penalty

The draft resolution that the United Nations General Assembly's human rights committee approved Thursday in a 99-52 vote urges all countries to halt their use of capital punishment. The measure will now head to the full Assembly for a vote. If approved there, it would not be legally binding for governments but would be widely viewed as a strong moral message. The Guardian (London) (11/16)

• Ban in Lebanon to push legitimate election 
• WHO: India advances against polio 
• UN climate panel agrees on new report painting grave threat 
• UN investigator to present Myanmar findings 
• New push for Iran sanctions likely after IAEA's report 

• Ban in Lebanon to push legitimate election
  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a visit to Lebanon Thursday called on the country's rival political factions to overcome their impasse that threatens to divide the government and instead unite behind a free and fair election of a new president. Ban also called "irreversible" the UN's efforts to establish an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 bomb blast that killed Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others. The Daily Star (Lebanon) (11/16)

• UN's Internet summit seeks to protect children from pedophiles
  The United Nations' second forum on Internet governance, held in Rio de Janeiro, has closed with a decision to try to boost Web access to people in poor countries. But much of the meeting focused on finding ways to better shelter children who use the Internet from sexual predators. Google/Agence France-Presse (11/16)

• WHO: India advances against polio
  India earlier this year became the country with the most polio cases, but a forceful vaccination campaign is showing promising results, said the director of the World Health Organization's Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The number of new cases in India has declined this year and new infections are of a weaker strain than previously identified, Bruce Aylward said, adding it's possible the country could wipe out the paralyzing disease in two years. Reuters (11/15)

• Web site promotes literacy, rice donations to WFP
  A new Web site called Freerice.com lets users take vocabulary tests, and the better they fare the more rice is donated to the United Nations' World Food Programme. Companies advertising on the site are sponsoring the donations, which already have helped the WFP buy rice for Myanmar refugees in Bangladesh. CBS News (11/15)

• Study: Financial incentives reduce malaria death toll
  Paying doctors and nurses extra money if they make sure to follow protocols in treating malaria patients helps save lives, researchers say. The study in Guinea Bissau's national hospital showed that small financial incentives helped motivate health workers to be more efficient and follow directives. Science and Development Network (11/15)

• UN climate panel agrees on new report painting grave threat
  The scientists and government officials on the United Nations' panel on climate change who have met this week in Spain have agreed on the wording of a report that will summarize its findings in previous substantial reports. The text, which is set to be officially released Saturday by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, paints a grave picture of the "abrupt and irreversible" global warming threat. The Times (London) (subscription required) (11/16)

• UN official: OPEC should act on climate change: Oil-exporting members meeting at an OPEC summit this weekend should take a hard look at climate change and how they want to address it, UN climate change official Yvo de Boer said Thursday. Environmental News Network/Reuters (11/15)

• Other News

• Dolphins said to be among victims of Russian oil spill
  Environmental News Network/Reuters (11/15)

• UN investigator to present Myanmar findings
  United Nations human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said Friday his five-day trip to Myanmar had resulted in a more accurate picture of the number of people arrested and killed in a September crackdown on demonstrators by the country's military junta. Pinheiro will present his findings to the UN Human Rights Council on Dec. 11. International Herald Tribune/Associated Press (11/16)

• Pakistani UN rights envoy may face arrest upon return home
  Hina Jilani, the United Nations' special representative on human rights defenders, told the Associated Press in an interview she plans to return to her home country of Pakistan despite word that she faces house arrest there because of her criticism of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Jilani said that before going home she will try to muster support among lawyers and others around the world to pressure Musharraf to end his state of emergency and release political prisoners. International Herald Tribune/Associated Press (11/15)

• Saudi rape decision shocks country
  The decision by a Saudi judge to increase punishment levied against a gang-rape victim has stunned Saudi Arabia and jump-started a rare discussion of the kingdom's harsh treatment of women. The presiding judge imposed the heavier penalty of 200 lashes during an appeal of the original verdict, which punished her for being alone with an unrelated man before the attack in which she and the man were both victimized. NYTimes.com (11/16)

• New push for Iran sanctions likely after IAEA's report
  Iran has made new but incomplete revelations about its nuclear program, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported Thursday. Tehran's "cooperation has been reactive rather than proactive," the UN atomic watchdog said. Iran will now likely find itself facing a new push from the U.S., France and Britain for additional sanctions. NYTimes.com (11/16), Los Angeles Times (11/16)

• Analysis: Why African Union failed in Darfur
  The African Union's peacekeeping mission in Darfur, in place since 2004, has been roundly criticized for its failure to stop the massive violence in the Sudanese region. But some analysts say the AU's resources and mandate were just too limited and that it never stood a chance at success. BBC (11/15)

• Pakistan's woes deepen
  Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf appointed a loyalist as interim prime minister Thursday, showing no signs he intends to relinquish his hold on power. Criticism of Musharraf continues to grow in response to his heavy-handed tactics, and opposition politicians are working to forge a common platform to challenge him. The Toronto Star/Associated Press (11/16)

• Editorial: World needs different approach on Sri Lanka conflict
  The world community should institute an international arms embargo against Sri Lanka if it wants to help end "one of the world's most vicious and intractable conflicts," the International Herald Tribune writes. Current U.S. policy of providing equipment to Sri Lanka's armed forces while urging the government to improve human rights is ill-framed and unlikely to promote a peace process, the paper says. International Herald Tribune (11/15)

• Commentary: Somalia being "cast adrift"
  Deadly violence that has continued to grip Somalia over the last year is made worse by the sense that the world community has deserted the country, The Economist writes. The United Nations has balked at sending a peacekeeping mission into the Horn of Africa country and additional troops promised for an African Union force already on the ground are unlikely to ever arrive, the magazine notes. The Economist (11/15)

• Commentary: Path to Mideast peace filled with uncertainties
  What has changed that makes the upcoming Middle East peace summit more promising than all the failed peace conferences for the region of the past? The bottom line is that not much of substance has changed, unfortunately making the prospect of success this time around less than great, Financial Times columnist Philip Stephens writes. Financial Times (tiered subscription model) (11/16)

• Other News

• UN: Opium profits bankroll Afghan insurgency
  The Globe and Mail (Toronto)/Reuters (11/16)

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UN peacekeeping chief warns Darfur force lacks critical equipment .... UN Radio

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