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- UN: Response to Kabul attack was too slow
The United Nations is looking for an explanation for why Afghan police and NATO forces took an hour to arrive at the scene of a Taliban attack on a guesthouse full of UN staff last week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council. Afghan authorities contend their forces responded quickly, while NATO says Afghan authorities did not ask for international support. Ban has appealed for financing to increase security at UN locations and for a fund to benefit victims and their families. Google/The Associated Press
(10/31)
- UN to end support for Congo mission units
The UN suspended its support for Democratic Republic of Congo units accused of direct attacks on civilians near the village of Lukweti that killed more than 60 people. UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy, who has been touring the Congo, said the affected units belong to the 213th brigade of the Congolese army but did not say how many troops were implicated or what the decision would mean for the larger operation. AlertNet.org/Reuters
(11/2)
- Column: Obstetric fistulas easily reversed
U.S.-based doctor and Worldwide Fistula Fund founder Lewis Wall promotes a simple $300 surgery that easily reverses the effects of obstetric fistulas, returning women to health and to society. Women who develop fistulas during childbirth often are younger mothers. In many African societies, a fistula is a sentence of ostracism for the women who suffer them. The New York Times
(11/2)
- UN launches pneumonia prevention, treatment appeal
An investment of $39 billion to support efforts to prevent and treat pneumonia could save the lives of 5.3 million children in the developing world by 2015, the World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund said. Pneumonia kills about 1.8 million children every year, but relatively few resources are directed toward countering the disease. Reuters
(11/1)
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.
- Qat farming threatens Yemen's water supply
Poor Yemeni farmers are turning to the production of qat, whose narcotic leaves are chewed daily by Yemenis, to feed their families even though their growth requires a significant water supply. Yemen is facing a massive national water scarcity crisis in the face of drought and diminishing aquifers. The New York Times
(10/31)
- Deforestation key to demise of ancient Nazca of Peru
The ancient people of Nazca, who once occupied territory of current-day Peru, brought about their own demise through deforestation -- which exposed the Ica Valley plains to devastating El Niño flooding. Archaeologists have determined the region, barren today, once supported a significant and fertile ecosystem anchored by the huarango tree, which the Nazca removed for timber and to clear land for more lucrative crops. Los Angeles Times
(11/2)
- How the Berlin Wall accidentally fell
University of Southern California international relations professor Mary Elise Sarotte explains the rapid and accidental succession of events that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago. Many East German leaders were occupied in meetings or abroad when Guenter Schabowski, a member of the Politboro, sleepily misstated new travel regulations that did not in fact change border policy at the Wall -- a change that was interpreted by Western reporters, then by East Germans, to mean the Wall had in fact opened. The Washington Post
(11/1)
- China censors its artists abroad
Though Chinese officials claim China expressly does not interfere in the affairs of other sovereign nations, critics accuse China of threatening, disrupting and otherwise intimidating organization who sponsor Chinese dissidents. Organizers of a film festival in Melbourne and book fair in Frankfurt say China urged them to refuse to allow certain Chinese artists to participate. BBC
(11/2)
- India prepares for campaign to counter Maoist rebel threat
Indian authorities are preparing to deploy 70,000 troops to conduct a counterinsurgency against the country's surging Maoist militias. The Maoist movement, which began in the late 1960s and was long dismissed as irrelevant by Indian authorities, has become increasingly violent and potent. Maoist rebels are now present in 20 Indian states. The New York Times
(10/31)
- North Korean charm offensive hinges on bilateral talks
After informal talks between representatives from North Korea and the U.S., North Korean officials made a formal appeal for bilateral talks with the U.S. over its nuclear program, taking to state airwaves to say that talks between Pyongyang and Washington should precede multiparty talks. U.S. officials maintain North Korea must resume six-party talks with South Korea, China, Japan and Russia, and further intends to enforce UN sanctions imposed after North Korea's May missile tests. Critics say North Korea's recent charm offensive disguises a desperate need for financial and food aid. The New York Times
(11/1)
, Financial Times (tiered subscription model)
(11/2)
- Election officials give Karzai second term as Afghan president
Afghan election officials canceled the second round of a presidential vote slated for Saturday and declared incumbent Hamid Karzai the elected president. The move came after Karzai's only challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from the vote over concerns widespread corruption and fraud that marked the first round in August would occur again. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the move, calling the troubled Afghan election process the "most difficult the [UN] has ever supported." The Times (London)
(11/2)
, BBC
(11/2)
- Indigenous Indian uprising sweeps across Latin America
Indigenous Indian groups across Latin America are becoming increasingly politically active as a result of increased education, access to the Internet and the need to protect their traditional lands. Indians make up 10% of Latin America's population but are poorer and less educated, and face threats to control the abundant natural resources on their land. Indian groups in Peru, Chile and Ecuador have turned to protests and civil disobedience. Yahoo!/The Associated Press
(11/1)
- Palestinians say U.S. is "backpedaling" on settlement issue
Palestinian leaders said the U.S. is going back on pledges to pressure Israel to freeze the development of settlements in the West Bank, where 300,000 Israelis currently reside. Israel is insisting negotiations take place without preconditions -- a position the U.S. appears to be backing at this point. The Washington Post
(11/2)
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