Ahmadinejad supports international nuclear deal

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed victory in Iran's negotiations with the UN, U.S., Russia and France, signaling his support for an international agreement that would give the International Atomic Energy Agency oversight of its uranium enrichment program. Though Iran recently said it would suggest amendments to the deal and though Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on any matters of state, Ahmadinejad's comments suggest Iran will support the deal. Los Angeles Times (10/29), The Guardian (London) (10/29)

• Ban: Afghan attack will not derail UN efforts 
• Security fears keep Mindanao refugees camps 
• Time for "clarity" on costs of carbon cuts 
• WFP tests mobile delivery of food aid vouchers 
• Zimbabwe deports UN rights expert 
• Attack causes groups to rethink Afghan operations 
• Career Center 

• Ban: Afghan attack will not derail UN efforts
  The United Nations will not be diverted from its mission in Afghanistan by terrorist acts, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon vowed in his condemnation of a Wednesday attack on UN staff in Kabul. "We will continue our work, particularly in helping the Afghan government and people carrying out the second presidential election," Ban said. AlertNet/Reuters (10/28)

• UN staff scrambled to safety during Kabul attack
  United Nations workers climbed over the roof or jumped out of windows to escape during Wednesday's two-hour assault on a guesthouse used by foreigners in Kabul. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the brazen attack, which left 11 people dead, as part of its efforts to disrupt the Nov. 7 presidential runoff election. Google/The Associated Press (10/28)

• Security fears keep Mindanao refugees camps
  Despite awful living conditions in Mindanao refugee camps, many internally displaced residents in Philippines are refusing to return home, citing security concerns. As many as 250,000 of the 750,000 people displaced by fighting between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are choosing to remain in refugee camps despite malnutrition and poor water and sanitation. IRINNews.org (10/29)

• Time for "clarity" on costs of carbon cuts
  Yvo do Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, told reporters on a conference call it was time for the leading industrialized nations to provide specific funding pledges and emissions cuts to pave the way for a global climate deal in Copenhagen in December. Until this happens, do Boer said, "it is impossible, or almost impossible, to expect developing countries to make significant moves either." NYTimes.com/Green Inc. blog (10/29)

• The security risks of climate change
  Rising ocean levels, drought, shrinking rivers, receding Arctic ice and other environmental transformations wrought by climate change could pose some of the most serious security risks in the coming years, according to witnesses at a U.S. Senate hearing. Google/The Associated Press (10/29)

• Other News

• Fate of penguins, krill closely linked, scientists warn
  AlertNet/Reuters (10/28)

• WFP tests mobile delivery of food aid vouchers
  The World Food Programme is testing a plan to deliver food aid vouchers to refugees via cell phone. The program, serving 130,000 Iraqi refugees in Syria, is designed to eliminate bottlenecks at distribution centers and allow users to select their own food at local markets. The program is designed to work in urban areas, where food is available in markets. Telegraph (London) (10/28)

• UN: Developing world needs better broadband access
  A lack of broadband infrastructure leaves developing countries unable to take advantage of Internet technology to promote development, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development warns. Broadband access is a critical component for offshore industries such as call centers and can help people make more use of their cell telephones to access services. NYTimes.com/Reuters (10/26)

• Zimbabwe deports UN rights expert
  Zimbabwean authorities refused to allow United Nations human rights expert Manfred Nowak to enter the country even though he was invited to visit by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Nowak was detained at the airport and later deported in what he called "a serious diplomatic incident." Reuters (10/28), BBC (10/29)

• Supreme Court to hear case on juvenile life sentences
  The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case that will decide whether a juvenile can be given a life sentence -- a followup to a difficult, divided 2005 decision in which the Court determined that executing a juvenile constituted cruel and unusual punishment. The defense for the case 13-year-old boy convicted of rape and sentenced by a lower court to life rests on the argument that a life sentence is in essence a death penalty and that extreme juvenile punishments are practiced virtually nowhere else in the industrial world. The Washington Post (10/29)

• Other News

• Sikh survivors evidence of India's broken justice
  TIME (10/28)

• Spanish Civil War wounds still ache
  The Washington Post (10/29)

• Attack causes groups to rethink Afghan operations
  The attack on a guesthouse used by the UN that killed five UN employees has forced the organization to reconsider how it will operate in Afghanistan, in particular how UN officials will visit polling stations and election officials as the runoff election draws near. A spokesman for the Taliban claimed the attack was an effort to interrupt the presidential election. Much of the UN's work to prepare for the election is complete, and UN Special Representative Kai Eide said the attacks would not prevent the UN mission from finishing its work. Los Angeles Times (10/29)

• Global justice experts welcome U.S. war crimes envoy
  Experts on international justice believe the appointment of Stephen Rapp as the U.S. ambassador on war crimes will strengthen the U.S.'s commitment to global courts and international law. A former district attorney who prosecuted architects of the Rwandan genocide and Liberian leader Charles Taylor, Rapp pledges stronger U.S. engagement with war crimes cases -- though he acknowledges the U.S. is unlikely to participate in the International Criminals Court any time soon. The Christian Science Monitor (10/28)

• No untainted sources in Afghanistan
  U.S. intelligence agencies' reliance on questionable partners in Afghanistan is a reflection of the chaos and corruption that has plagued the conflict-ravaged country for decades. Afghan President Hamid Karzai's brother Ahmed Wali Karzai is just the latest in a long line of Western institutions' paid allies. TIME (10/28)

• U.S. sending support to Pakistan's anti-Taliban efforts
  U.S. authorities are quietly supporting the Pakistani military's campaign against the Taliban with imagery from unmanned drones and the delivery of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weapons and equipment in recent months. The number of U.S. military personnel advising and conducting trainings has doubled in the past eight months. NYTimes.com (10/28)

• India offers to resume talks on Kashmir
  Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, speaking in the Kashmiri city of Srinagar, said he is ready for the resumption of peace talks with Pakistan over the disposition of the disputed area in Kashmir. Singh is linking progress on the Kashmir issue to the success of Pakistani efforts to fight militant groups. Bloomberg (10/29)

• Improvised bombs spread beyond Middle East
  The improvised explosive devices that have plagued the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have begun to appear in areas outside the Middle Eastern theaters -- including conflicts in Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Colombia. Including detonation and discovery of devices, incidence of IEDs each month outside Afghanistan and Iraq trend as high as 300 per month. The use of IEDs has diminished in Iraq but grown in Afghanistan. NYTimes.com (10/28)

• Other News

• Mexican band pulls out of awards show over drug censorship
  Los Angeles Times (10/29)

• China issues invitation for North Korea's Kim to visit
  NYTimes.com (10/29)

• Blair EU presidency bid finds support from Brown
  The Independent (London) (10/29)

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