Reurters Weekly Alertnet
Joseph Raglione
December 17, 2009
Gentle readers of this American Chronicle, your President Barack Obama is apparently working towards a deal in Copenhagan; but back home, some U.S. Senators are working to destroy the 'Public Option' within your health care reform bill.
WEEKLY ALERTNET - US President Barack Obama expresses confidence climate deal can be reached - WFP sees no end to food price volatility - Philippines: government evacuates tens of thousands as volcano spews lava...
Alertnet finally has a Facebook page. Please sign up as a fan of Alertnet. You can also follow us on Twitter.
Please also visit our brand-new Climate Change page for all relevant stories, briefings and resources.
This week's top humanitarian stories from AlertNet
Dec 16, 2009
TSUNAMI ANNIVERSARY: The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami killed 226,000 people - and touched billions more through iconic imagery. But from the tragedy came stories of hope, compassion and dignity. Five years after the tsunami, survivors whose lives were transformed reveal the strength of the human spirit in this special Thomson Reuters Foundation multimedia package.
AFRICA
SUDAN: Two civilian peacekeepers were freed by kidnappers in Sudan's Darfur region after more than 100 days in captivity, officials say. Gunmen abducted the Nigerian man and the Zimbabwean woman from Darfur's joint U.N./African Union peacekeeping mission in the west Darfur town of Zalingei in August in one of a new wave of kidnappings.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took the unusual step of phoning Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir this month to ask him to step up efforts to free the two peacekeepers. Meanwhile, the two main parties in Sudan's north and south agreed the terms of a controversial referendum on southern independence, defusing a row that threatened a peace deal in the oil-producing nation.
SOMALIA: Students and teachers were back in class at Mogadishu's Benadir University, determined to continue lessons despite a suicide bombing at their medical graduation ceremony that killed 22 people. Meanwhile, Somali rebels have executed two men for adultery and murder, but the verdict prompted a battle between two insurgent factions that killed three of the gunmen, witnesses say. It was the first time Hizbul Islam guerrillas had meted out the type of punishments that are usually associated with the more hardline al Shabaab rebel group, which the United States says is al Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state.
NIGERIA: Hundreds of Nigerians are unlawfully killed by corrupt and ill-trained police officers each year and authorities are ignoring the problem, says Amnesty International. In a two-year investigation, Amnesty found rampant human rights violations including torture and executions of suspects committed by Nigerian police officers. "The Nigerian police are responsible for hundreds of unlawful killings every year," says Erwin van der Borght, director of Amnesty's Africa programme.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: U.N. peacekeepers have deployed to a town in the north east of Central African Republic (CAR) to deter attacks on Sudanese refugees from a rebel group, a U.N. spokesman has said. The rebel group called the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) has accused refugees of killing some of their fighters and triggering insecurity in the region around the town of Sam Ouandja, almost 950km (590 miles) from the capital Bangui.
ASIA:
PHILIPPINES: Philippine authorities started evacuating about 50,000 people from around the country's most active volcano as it spewed burning mud and rocks. Mayon volcano, famed for its near-perfect cone shape in a coconut-growing region of the central Philippines, started to release lava early this week and vulcanologists are expecting a major eruption in the next few days. Nearly 80 high frequency quakes were recorded around the volcano in the space of 24 hours. Officials raised Mayon's alert to level 3 on Monday, meaning sudden hazardous explosions were likely.
AFGHANISTAN: U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates visited U.S. commanders in Afghanistan, promising that President Barack Obama's surge of 30,000 extra forces would give them what they need for success against the Taliban. Back in Washington, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan and the top diplomat close ranks around Obama's strategy, saying it will halt Taliban momentum within a year. However, German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg says the conflict in Afghanistan cannot be won by military means and called for more development aid. His comments came as Germany considers whether to send more troops to the country.
PAKISTAN: The Obama administration sought to reassure U.S. lawmakers this week it would demand "maximum accountability" from Pakistan for $7.5 billion in aid and that it had safeguards to ensure funds did not reach extremists. In a report sent by the State Department to congressional committees late on Monday, the administration outlined its priorities for the aid, including water, agriculture and electricity projects, and laid out a strategy to prevent corruption and misuse of the money.
TSUNAMI ANNIVERSARY: Good reads
INTERVIEW-Tsunami-hit communities ready for future-Clinton - Reuters
FEATURE-Built back better in Aceh five years after tsunami - Reuters
FEATURE-Sri Lanka's tsunami village triumphs after tragedy - Nita Bhalla, AlertNet
FEATURE-For tsunami's Baby 81, fame brought misfortune - Reuters
MIDDLE EAST:
YEMEN: Yemeni Shi'ite rebels accused the U.S. air force on Tuesday of joining attacks against them, and killing at least 120 people in a raid in the north of the poor Arab state. The rebels, who are fighting the Yemeni army and forces of neighbouring Saudi Arabia, posted videos on the Internet that appeared to show people trying to clear rubble covering human bodies. In Geneva, a U.N. official said U.N. agencies had appealed for $177 million to help people affected by the conflict.
GLOBAL:
CLIMATE TALKS: U.S. President Barack Obama has expressed confidence a climate deal can be clinched as dozens of world leaders gather on Wednesday to try to break a deadlock at U.N. climate talks. Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said all nations need to set tougher targets to combat global warming at the Copenhagen summit and the rich should spell out how much aid they will give the poor by 2020. The United Nations wants countries to come up with $10 billion a year from 2010-12 as a quick start for a deal to help developing nations cope with global warming that will bring more floods, droughts, mudslides and rising sea levels. The African group of countries on Wednesday scaled back demands for climate finance from rich countries, meeting proposals made by developed nations and signalling agreement on a core obstacle in U.N. talks. Addressing talks, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi supported $100 billion annual funds by 2020 from developed countries to help the developing world fight climate change and adapt to its impact. The European Union has proposed a figure of about $150 billion, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown $100 billion.
For more news, blogs and features from Copenhagen, please click here.
FOOD: The cost of food is rising and prices will likely remain volatile at a time when the number of hungry people globally has topped one billion, the head of the United Nations' World Food Programme says. Excessive market speculation has been blamed for sending food and crude oil prices to record highs last year. Food scares sparked riots in many developing countries and bans of exporting food roiled the flow of world trade. The World Bank also says that one solution to global hunger is to outsource production to Africa.
HEALTH:
AIDS: A gel made by U.S. drug firm Endo Pharmaceuticals that is designed to prevent infection with the AIDS virus has proved ineffective in trials in Africa, Britain's Medical Research Council has said. A large international trial of the vaginal microbicide, Pro 2000, in more than 9,000 women in four African countries found no evidence that it reduces the risk of HIV infection.
MALARIA: Increased funding is starting to pay off in the battle against malaria but prevention and treatment must be increased to try to halt the killer disease, the World Health Organisation says. The WHO's World Malaria Report 2009 found "significant progress" in the delivery of mosquito nets and malaria drugs, thanks largely to an increase in funds to $1.7 billion in 2009 from $0.3 billion in 2003. But it said $5 billion more was needed every year to get maximum global impact worldwide.
MORE GREAT READS AND ALERTNET INSIGHT
Sri Lanka's tsunami village triumphs after tragedy - Nita Bhalla, AlertNet
For tsunami's Baby 81, fame brought misfortune - Reuters
Coping with climate change: Q+A with UN humanitarian chief - Laurie Goering, AlertNet
WFP sees no let-up in volatile food supply and prices - Katie Nguyen, AlertNet
Climate shifts devastate lives, boost calls for climate justice - Laurie Goering, AlertNet
Action urgently needed to avert food crisis in west Africa says Oxfam -- George Fominyen, AlertNet
Red Cross reunites lost children with their families in DRC -- Frank Nyakairu, AlertNet
India's farmers outsmart nature, adapt to weather shifts -- Nita Bhalla, AlertNet
Darfur: Is the war over or is the world losing interest? - Reuters
Vital water supply dwindling from Colombia's glaciers - Anastasia Moloney, AlertNet
AlertNet's Weekly Quiz
Test your knowledge of recent humanitarian news with our weekly quiz.
TIP OF THE WEEK - Who works where:
Go here to find contact details of aid organisations working across the world. You can filter your search by emergency, country and organisation.
alertnet@reuters.com
If you no longer wish to receive this weekly digest, please click here.
This Email was sent to you by Thomson Reuters, the global news and information company.
Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to be the views of Thomson Reuters.
This email was sent to you by Thomson Reuters, the global news and information company.
Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to be the views of Thomson Reuters.
WEEKLY ALERTNET - US President Barack Obama expresses confidence climate deal can be reached - WFP sees no end to food price volatility - Philippines: government evacuates tens of thousands as volcano spews lava...
Alertnet finally has a Facebook page. Please sign up as a fan of Alertnet. You can also follow us on Twitter.
Please also visit our brand-new Climate Change page for all relevant stories, briefings and resources.
This week's top humanitarian stories from AlertNet
Dec 16, 2009
TSUNAMI ANNIVERSARY: The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami killed 226,000 people - and touched billions more through iconic imagery. But from the tragedy came stories of hope, compassion and dignity. Five years after the tsunami, survivors whose lives were transformed reveal the strength of the human spirit in this special Thomson Reuters Foundation multimedia package.
AFRICA
SUDAN: Two civilian peacekeepers were freed by kidnappers in Sudan's Darfur region after more than 100 days in captivity, officials say. Gunmen abducted the Nigerian man and the Zimbabwean woman from Darfur's joint U.N./African Union peacekeeping mission in the west Darfur town of Zalingei in August in one of a new wave of kidnappings.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took the unusual step of phoning Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir this month to ask him to step up efforts to free the two peacekeepers. Meanwhile, the two main parties in Sudan's north and south agreed the terms of a controversial referendum on southern independence, defusing a row that threatened a peace deal in the oil-producing nation.
SOMALIA: Students and teachers were back in class at Mogadishu's Benadir University, determined to continue lessons despite a suicide bombing at their medical graduation ceremony that killed 22 people. Meanwhile, Somali rebels have executed two men for adultery and murder, but the verdict prompted a battle between two insurgent factions that killed three of the gunmen, witnesses say. It was the first time Hizbul Islam guerrillas had meted out the type of punishments that are usually associated with the more hardline al Shabaab rebel group, which the United States says is al Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state.
NIGERIA: Hundreds of Nigerians are unlawfully killed by corrupt and ill-trained police officers each year and authorities are ignoring the problem, says Amnesty International. In a two-year investigation, Amnesty found rampant human rights violations including torture and executions of suspects committed by Nigerian police officers. "The Nigerian police are responsible for hundreds of unlawful killings every year," says Erwin van der Borght, director of Amnesty's Africa programme.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: U.N. peacekeepers have deployed to a town in the north east of Central African Republic (CAR) to deter attacks on Sudanese refugees from a rebel group, a U.N. spokesman has said. The rebel group called the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) has accused refugees of killing some of their fighters and triggering insecurity in the region around the town of Sam Ouandja, almost 950km (590 miles) from the capital Bangui.
ASIA:
PHILIPPINES: Philippine authorities started evacuating about 50,000 people from around the country's most active volcano as it spewed burning mud and rocks. Mayon volcano, famed for its near-perfect cone shape in a coconut-growing region of the central Philippines, started to release lava early this week and vulcanologists are expecting a major eruption in the next few days. Nearly 80 high frequency quakes were recorded around the volcano in the space of 24 hours. Officials raised Mayon's alert to level 3 on Monday, meaning sudden hazardous explosions were likely.
AFGHANISTAN: U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates visited U.S. commanders in Afghanistan, promising that President Barack Obama's surge of 30,000 extra forces would give them what they need for success against the Taliban. Back in Washington, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan and the top diplomat close ranks around Obama's strategy, saying it will halt Taliban momentum within a year. However, German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg says the conflict in Afghanistan cannot be won by military means and called for more development aid. His comments came as Germany considers whether to send more troops to the country.
PAKISTAN: The Obama administration sought to reassure U.S. lawmakers this week it would demand "maximum accountability" from Pakistan for $7.5 billion in aid and that it had safeguards to ensure funds did not reach extremists. In a report sent by the State Department to congressional committees late on Monday, the administration outlined its priorities for the aid, including water, agriculture and electricity projects, and laid out a strategy to prevent corruption and misuse of the money.
TSUNAMI ANNIVERSARY: Good reads
INTERVIEW-Tsunami-hit communities ready for future-Clinton - Reuters
FEATURE-Built back better in Aceh five years after tsunami - Reuters
FEATURE-Sri Lanka's tsunami village triumphs after tragedy - Nita Bhalla, AlertNet
FEATURE-For tsunami's Baby 81, fame brought misfortune - Reuters
MIDDLE EAST:
YEMEN: Yemeni Shi'ite rebels accused the U.S. air force on Tuesday of joining attacks against them, and killing at least 120 people in a raid in the north of the poor Arab state. The rebels, who are fighting the Yemeni army and forces of neighbouring Saudi Arabia, posted videos on the Internet that appeared to show people trying to clear rubble covering human bodies. In Geneva, a U.N. official said U.N. agencies had appealed for $177 million to help people affected by the conflict.
GLOBAL:
CLIMATE TALKS: U.S. President Barack Obama has expressed confidence a climate deal can be clinched as dozens of world leaders gather on Wednesday to try to break a deadlock at U.N. climate talks. Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said all nations need to set tougher targets to combat global warming at the Copenhagen summit and the rich should spell out how much aid they will give the poor by 2020. The United Nations wants countries to come up with $10 billion a year from 2010-12 as a quick start for a deal to help developing nations cope with global warming that will bring more floods, droughts, mudslides and rising sea levels. The African group of countries on Wednesday scaled back demands for climate finance from rich countries, meeting proposals made by developed nations and signalling agreement on a core obstacle in U.N. talks. Addressing talks, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi supported $100 billion annual funds by 2020 from developed countries to help the developing world fight climate change and adapt to its impact. The European Union has proposed a figure of about $150 billion, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown $100 billion.
For more news, blogs and features from Copenhagen, please click here.
FOOD: The cost of food is rising and prices will likely remain volatile at a time when the number of hungry people globally has topped one billion, the head of the United Nations' World Food Programme says. Excessive market speculation has been blamed for sending food and crude oil prices to record highs last year. Food scares sparked riots in many developing countries and bans of exporting food roiled the flow of world trade. The World Bank also says that one solution to global hunger is to outsource production to Africa.
HEALTH:
AIDS: A gel made by U.S. drug firm Endo Pharmaceuticals that is designed to prevent infection with the AIDS virus has proved ineffective in trials in Africa, Britain's Medical Research Council has said. A large international trial of the vaginal microbicide, Pro 2000, in more than 9,000 women in four African countries found no evidence that it reduces the risk of HIV infection.
MALARIA: Increased funding is starting to pay off in the battle against malaria but prevention and treatment must be increased to try to halt the killer disease, the World Health Organisation says. The WHO's World Malaria Report 2009 found "significant progress" in the delivery of mosquito nets and malaria drugs, thanks largely to an increase in funds to $1.7 billion in 2009 from $0.3 billion in 2003. But it said $5 billion more was needed every year to get maximum global impact worldwide.
MORE GREAT READS AND ALERTNET INSIGHT
Sri Lanka's tsunami village triumphs after tragedy - Nita Bhalla, AlertNet
For tsunami's Baby 81, fame brought misfortune - Reuters
Coping with climate change: Q+A with UN humanitarian chief - Laurie Goering, AlertNet
WFP sees no let-up in volatile food supply and prices - Katie Nguyen, AlertNet
Climate shifts devastate lives, boost calls for climate justice - Laurie Goering, AlertNet
Action urgently needed to avert food crisis in west Africa says Oxfam -- George Fominyen, AlertNet
Red Cross reunites lost children with their families in DRC -- Frank Nyakairu, AlertNet
India's farmers outsmart nature, adapt to weather shifts -- Nita Bhalla, AlertNet
Darfur: Is the war over or is the world losing interest? - Reuters
Vital water supply dwindling from Colombia's glaciers - Anastasia Moloney, AlertNet
AlertNet's Weekly Quiz
Test your knowledge of recent humanitarian news with our weekly quiz.
TIP OF THE WEEK - Who works where:
Go here to find contact details of aid organisations working across the world. You can filter your search by emergency, country and organisation.
alertnet@reuters.com
If you no longer wish to receive this weekly digest, please click here.
This Email was sent to you by Thomson Reuters, the global news and information company.
Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to be the views of Thomson Reuters.
This email was sent to you by Thomson Reuters, the global news and information company.
Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to be the views of Thomson Reuters.
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