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 Rebels, Sudan reach agreement on Darfur
After two weeks of talks, and under threat of sanctions by the United Nations Security Council, the Sudanese government has agreed to disarm the Janjaweed militia, create a no-fly zone over the Darfur region and help the hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced by the conflict. "We still have a long way to go, but the step we have taken this afternoon is a very important step in the right direction," said Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria's president and chairman of the African Union, who also added that the agreements must be adhered to for them to work. The New York Times/Reuters (11/10), The Washington Post (11/10), AllAfrica Global Media/UN News Service (New York) (11/10)
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| UN News |
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 | UN, French begin evacuations in Abidjan
As violence continues in Côte d'Ivoire, France and the United Nations have started to evacuate expatriates, many of whom are staying in UN offices, on a voluntary basis. The UN is reporting hate messages, depicting violent scenes and encouraging people to mobilize against the French, are being aired on state-run television. The Guardian (London)/Associated Press (11/10)
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| |  | Security Council discusses possible Côte d'Ivoire sanctions: The group met last night to talk about the potential for imposing sanctions as unrest continued in Côte d'Ivoire, and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was increasingly concerned by the situation. Financial Times (free content) (11/10)
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| New roads bring health, education and employment to Ethiopians
A massive road-building project in Ethiopia, sponsored in part by the World Bank, has paved the way for better medical care, increased commerce and reduced rural poverty, and has renewed donor interest in road-building throughout Africa. In addition to providing better access to previously hard-to-reach schools and other locations, road-building projects also provide local villagers with employment opportunities, says a New York Times report. The New York Times (11/10)
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| Bipartisan Senate panel unhappy with UN nondisclosure policy
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators responsible for looking into the alleged UN oil-for-food scandal have sent a letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan requesting that he cease obstructing the panel's access to important documents related to the investigation, writes Judith Miller in The New York Times. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., wrote that the United Nation's nondisclosure policy has allowed access to internal documents that favor the world body, but not those that "could have a negative impact." The New York Times (1/1)
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| Commentary: Annan's "high-minded" prose
Editors at The Wall Street Journal write that the U.S.-appointed Iraqi interim Prime Minister should not be surprised by Secretary-General Kofi Annan's recent letter objecting to the present U.S.-Iraqi offensive in Fallujah, pointing out that "Mr. Annan's record of supporting Saddam Hussein, failing to stop the corrupt Oil for Food program, and appeasing terrorists in Iraq" make it unlikely the UN chief would mention the threat posed by terrorists in Fallujah. The Wall Street Journal (11/10)
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| Children's Health |
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| UNICEF chief calls for equal opportunity in education
UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy yesterday asked for countries to adhere to their promise of providing equal educational opportunities for boys and girls worldwide. She discussed the group's five-point agenda to create a "radical breakthrough" to encourage efforts in countries where education may have been hampered by disease, poverty and conflict. UN News Centre (11/10)
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| Niger to investigate possible polio saboteurs
The country issued a warning to any groups or individuals who may be impeding vaccination programs in the country after a dozen new "wild polio" cases were discovered. AllAfrica Global Media/Vanguard (11/8)
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| Women & Population |
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| Teenage pregnancy a challenging problem in Namibia
Peer pressure, overprotective parents and irresponsible older men are among the reasons given for the significant problem of teenage pregnancy in the Luderitz community. Schools are offering education programs and lectures by local nurses on protection techniques to respond to the trend. AllAfrica Global Media (11/10)
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| Tanzania's HIV/AIDS problem to be focus of Global Fund study
The Global Fund will hold meetings in Tanzania on Nov. 18 and 19 which are expected to be attended by African heads of state as well as Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Tanzanian Christian Council reported today about 600 people die daily in the country of AIDS-related diseases. Xinhuanet.com (China) (11/10)
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| Energy & Environment |
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| World Bank: East Asia fails to balance economic growth, environmental protection
The World Bank issued a report warning East Asian countries that unless dramatic steps are taken to protect the region's primary forests -- 95% of which have been decimated, partly as a result of rapid economic growth -- countries could be left with so-called "silent forests," void of life. The ability to balance economic growth with environmental protection will be a key item on the agenda at next week's World Conservation Congress in Bangkok. Inter Press Service News Agency (11/10)
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| Brazil gets two new Amazon reserves
Brazilian President Lulu da Silva pleased environmental activists by announcing the creation of two new government-protected reserves in the Amazon state of Para, adding to the percentage of the Amazon forest that is off limits to miners, loggers and other forms of "environmental degradation" in so-called "extractivist" reserves. The move will allow local inhabitants to remain in the area and subsist on "regenerating" goods from the forest. Environmental News Network/Associated Press (11/10)
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| Peace, Security & Human Rights |
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| Analysis: Ethnic tensions at core of hostilities in Côte d'Ivoire
While the violence in Côte d'Ivoire appears to be a fueled by hostility towards the French, the underlying causes more likely stem from ethnic tensions amongst Africans, says Somini Sengupta in a "Letter From Africa" piece in The New York Times. The New York Times (11/10)
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| Mission not yet accomplished in Afghanistan
While there have been signs of success in the U.S.-led nation-building project in Afghanistan, most notably last month's peaceful presidential elections and the lack of a unified, Iraq-style insurgency, there is still much work to be done, according to a report in The Guardian. Poverty, a rise in opium production, and the failure of donor nations to follow through with monetary commitments continue to plague the budding democracy, while security outside of major cities remains unstable. The Guardian (London) (11/10)
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| International support will make the difference in Afghanistan
United Nations officials said this week Afghanistan's fledgling democracy is moving in the right direction, but would only survive with help from the international community. Recent presidential elections and preparations for parliamentary elections in May of 2005 are promising because "Afghans have shown a remarkable political maturity," said UN Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno, and could turn the nation into a real success story with continued international support. Bloomberg (1/1)
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| Commentary: Death and Democracy in Iraq
Iraqi exile Sami Ramadani writes in The Guardian that elections scheduled in Iraq for January will be nothing short of a U.S.-controlled exercise, since U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are "terrified of the Iraqi people voting for anti-occupation leaders." Ongoing fighting in "centers of defiance" like Fallujah and the continuous deaths of innocent Iraqis to pave the way for so-called democracy, he writes, amount to "war crimes of Saddamist proportions." The Guardian (London) (11/10)
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| Commentary: Don't bow to Blair
The next wave of Palestinian leaders would do well to leave behind the "totalitarian instincts" that governed the life and now death of leader Yasser Arafat, and must renounce "the terror, corruption and incitement of chaos " that defined his rule, an editorial in the Wall Street Journal says. As calls for a renewed peace process resume, the editorial opines that the U.S. should not bow to any pressure from British Prime Minister Tony Blair that might lead to a security compromise for Israel. The Wall Street Journal (11/10)
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| Commentary: Arafat's "one good deed"
New York Times columnist William Safire writes that Yasser Arafat's refusal to accept the terms brokered at Camp David under President Bill Clinton was the dying Palestinian leader's "one good deed" in that it spared Israel's already battered image and exposed Arafat as a corrupted leader unwilling to accept peace. Arafat's passing alone, writes Safire, would not be enough to restart peace talks unless he is replaced with leaders who "eschew violence." The New York Times (11/10)
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| Location of nuclear fusion reactor still in dispute
The six nations participating in plans to build the world's biggest nuclear fusion reactor have yet to break their deadlock over whether to locate the facility in Japan or France. The European Union said Wednesday it was hopeful the location issue could be resolved despite the breakdown in talks on the $12 billion project. BBC (1/1), Forbes/Associated Press (1/1)
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| Commentary: "A Ugandan Tragedy"
Jan Egeland, United Nations undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, writes that while attention has been fixed on the loss of life in Darfur, "an equally terrible situation in northern Uganda continues to go unnoticed." The Washington Post (11/10)
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| Editorial: "Treatment of Guantanamo detainees is flawed"
A federal judge's decision to shut down the trials of accused terrorists being held at the Guantanamo Navy base supports the charges of critics, including The Miami Herald, that the process is "irreparably flawed." The Miami Herald (11/10)
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| UN Wire will not be published Thursday
Due to the observance of Veterans Day in the U.S., UN Wire will not be published Thursday, Nov. 11. Publication will resume on Friday.
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