North Korean ship heavily damaged in clash with South Korea

In a short but fierce skirmish in contested waters off the coast of the Korean Peninsula, North and South Korean naval ships fired at one another, leaving a North Korean vessel engulfed in flames. The first border fighting to occur between the nations took place in South Korean waters -- territory contested by both nations. The navies technically still are at war -- and have had deadly clashes in recent years. NYTimes.com (11/10), Los Angeles Times (11/9)

• Ban to visit the U.S. lawmakers 
• Scientists identify original malaria transfer 
• Garbage patches polluting world's oceans 
• WHO: World's women face unequal health care 
• Hariri, Hezbollah in unity government 

• Ban to visit the U.S. lawmakers
  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is traveling to Washington today to lobby U.S. government officials in support of efforts to forge an international climate agreement in Copenhagen next month. American participation is viewed as key to any deal, but delays in passing climate legislation leaves the Barack Obama administration unable to express a firm position. Ban will discuss what other governments are doing and what is expected of the U.S. in Copenhagen. AlertNet/Reuters (11/9), Google/The Associated Press (11/9)

• Afghan markets, NGOs respond to UN departure
  Afghanistan's markets have experienced price shocks in response to the UN's decision to temporarily relocate staff in Afghanistan. Economic officials within the government fear nongovernmental organizations operating within Afghanistan -- a major source of aid -- might decide to withdraw in light of the UN's departure. Experts say the NGO community largely has interpreted that attack on a UN guesthouse as an aggressive act after the elections instead of an indication the Taliban plans to attack aid organizations specifically. The Christian Science Monitor (11/9)

• Other News

• UN official concerned for Gaza families as winter approaches
  Reuters (11/9)

• 3 New York consulates receive suspicious powder in mail
  Google/The Associated Press (11/9)

• Scientists identify original malaria transfer
  Scientists successfully have mapped the transfer of malaria from chimpanzees to humans through the bite of a mosquito around 10,000 years ago, according to research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings challenge the previously held assumption the original transfer occurred as the human species split from apelike predecessors around 5 million years ago. The Boston Globe (free registration) (11/9)

• FAO: World ripe for another food crisis
  More international aid to combat higher food prices and insufficient production in developing countries is needed to stave off another food crisis, warns Jacques Diouf, director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization. "There is a lack of priority in fighting hunger and poverty at the highest political level, not only in developed countries but in developing countries," Diouf said. AlertNet/Reuters (11/9)

• Other News

• Australian koalas might disappear within decades, researchers warn
  AlertNet/Reuters (11/10)

• Garbage patches polluting world's oceans
  Large patches of garbage trapped in gyres, areas of heavy currents and little wind that leave trash swirling in giant whirlpools, are threatening marine life in the world's oceans, researchers say. The toxic floating trash piles are believed to be present in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Sargasso Sea and off the coast of Japan. NYTimes.com (11/9)

• Kenyan icecap disappearing
  An icecap still revered by many Kenyans as a god has largely disappeared from Mount Kenya as a result of global climate change, experts say. Environmental experts see the subsiding icecaps as one of the clearest indicators of global warming on the African continent. Kenya faces water shortages in light of dried-up riverbeds and creeks previously fed by the melting ice. Los Angeles Times (11/10)

• Online documentary tracks global warming crisis in Gabura
  Villagers and global-warming experts fear the consequences of climate change in Gabura, a small community in Bangladesh that has been ravaged by cyclones, rising sea levels and crop failure. Oxfam and the Guardian collaborated on an online interactive documentary project to bring light to the devastation brought upon Gabura -- and the potential consequences of global climate change more broadly -- in advance of climate talks in Copenhagen. The Guardian (London) (11/10)

• WHO: World's women face unequal health care
  Unequal health treatment provided to women rooted in gender discrimination is damaging societies across the world, the World Health Organization warns in a report. HIV/AIDS is the No. 1 cause of disease and death in women ages 15 to 44 years old, the report noted. Los Angeles Times/Booster Shots blog (11/9), Google/The Associated Press (11/9)

• Other News

• 9 Uighurs executed in China over July riots
  Google/The Associated Press (11/9)

• Chinese editor's resignation sparks fears for media freedom
  The Washington Post (11/10)

• Hariri, Hezbollah in unity government
  Months of political uncertainty in Lebanon has come to an end with the formation of a unity government including Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hezbollah. Observers hope the coalition will reduce tensions in the region. But the inclusion of Hezbollah, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization, and the length of time it took to form a government are raising questions about politicians' ability to govern effectively. Los Angeles Times (11/10)

• Yemen security situation deteriorating
  Yemen's security situation continues to worsen, providing an increasingly easy area of operations for militants and threatening the possibility of a wider regional conflict. Yemen has been battling an insurgency for five years, with occasional help from military forces from neighboring Saudi Arabia. TIME (11/9)

• Colombia to appeal to UN over Venezuela's war talk
  Colombia said it would appeal to the Organization of American States and the UN in the face of increased bluster from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez over a military pact signed between Colombia and the U.S. Chavez ordered his military to prepare for the possibility of war, saying the pact could pave the way for a U.S. invasion of Venezuela staged from Bogota. The U.S. and Colombia have pledged to cooperate to fight drug traffickers and Marxist rebels and dismiss Chavez's accusations. Reuters (11/9)

• Pakistan, China sign deal for fighter jets
  In a deal that will reshape Pakistan's military projection, China has agreed to sell Pakistan 36 advanced fighter jets for $1.4 billion -- and as many as 150 jets in the future. Defense experts said the sale of the multi-purpose J-10 fighter jets marks a significant advance in the relationship between China and Pakistan and in China's strategic clout in the continent. Financial Times (tiered subscription model) (11/10)

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