Last-minute scramble for climate deal at UN talks

Negotiations continued through the night Thursday at United Nations climate talks in Doha, Qatar, with envoys trying to mesh procedure with political will. A key proposal is the annual delivery of $100 billion in aid by 2020 to pay for projects to cope with the effects of global warming. The lead negotiator from the Philippines, Naderev Saño, broke down in tears in the hall, saying, "I appeal to the whole world, I appeal to leaders from all over the world, to open our eyes to the stark reality that we face. ... It cannot be a way of life that we end up running always from storms." Bloomberg Businessweek (12/7), The Washington Post/The Associated Press (12/7), The Guardian (London)/Poverty Matters blog (12/6)     

• Climate talks yield deal to cut soot, ozone 
• Are global brands at fault in fatal factory fire? 
• Lessons learned: The trafficking of women, girls 
• Initiative to make climate aid more transparent 
• Morsi, behind cordon, affirms Egypt referendum 
• Career Center 

• Climate talks yield deal to cut soot, ozone
  Climate envoys from more than two dozen countries on Thursday agreed to cooperate to sharply reduce levels of the short-lived pollutants black carbon, methane and ozone. The substances targeted by the the Climate and Clean Air Coalition of the United Nations Environment Programme are not regulated by existing climate treaties. The Guardian (London) (12/6)     

• Other News

• UN seeks $8.5 billion in 2013 for humanitarian crises in 16 countries
  Devex.com/The Development Newswire blog (12/7)     

• Russia is open to "new, fresh ideas" for solving Syria crisis
  Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription model)/World Now blog (12/7)     

• Palestinian refugees in Syria are urged by UN not to take sides
  The Daily Star (Lebanon)/Agence France-Presse (12/7)     

• Ban warns Syria against deploying chemical weapons
  Reuters (12/6)     

• Are global brands at fault in fatal factory fire?
  The garment factory in Bangladesh that caught fire last month, killing 112 workers, is the beginning of a supply chain that delivers clothes to popular outlets in Europe and the U.S. "[W]ho, then, is ultimately responsible when things go so wrong?" writes Jim Yardley. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (12/6)     

• Traversing Tanzania's savannah to deliver vaccines
  "Tell them the chanjos (vaccines) are coming. Bring your children!" So begins the effort in Tanzania's Arusha National Park to vaccinate members of the roving Maasai tribes, which can take up to five days, writes Chris Endean of the GAVI Alliance. CNN (12/5)     

• Other News

• Stop blocking aid to Kachin displaced, UN tells Myanmar
  Bangkok Post (Thailand) (12/7)     

• Mending Nigeria's frayed polio-vaccination strategy
  The Guardian (London)/Global Health Blog (12/5)     

• Lessons learned: The trafficking of women, girls
  On Monday, Human Rights Day, the "16 Days Against Gender Violence" campaign will end. Different approaches to ending human trafficking have had different effects, and Carol Michaels O'Laughlin of Winrock International analyzes the lessons learned. Devex.com (12/5)     

• Other News

• Jonglei rivalries are increasingly targeting S. Sudan women
  IRINNews.org (12/5)     

• Initiative to make climate aid more transparent
  Oxfam and the World Resources Institute have launched a program to monitor the flow of climate aid from rich nations to developing nations to the communities for which the aid is intended. The two-year initiative will focus on Nepal, the Philippines, Uganda and Zambia. AlertNet (12/6)     

• Shrinking habitat endangers Africa's lions
  Lions in Africa are headed toward extinction not only because of poaching, disease and inbreeding, scientists say. The big cats are literally running out of habitat as people develop formerly open savannah. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Green blog (12/6), The Guardian (London) (12/5)     

• Other News

• Arctic Northern Sea Route seen as viable after delivery of Russian natural gas
  The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Green blog (12/6)     

• Hillary Clinton discusses failed Copenhagen climate talks
  The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Green blog (12/6)     

• Morsi, behind cordon, affirms Egypt referendum
  Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi refused to postpone a referendum next week on a draft constitution, blaming two weeks of violent protests on a "fifth column" even as senior advisers and other officials resigned from his government in the wake of his decree claiming broader powers. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (12/6), Reuters (12/7)     

• Other News

• China to charge Tibetans with murder for surviving self-immolations
  The Washington Post/WorldViews blog (12/6)     

• Do clashes between Kurds and Arab rebels presage Syrian Balkanization?
  The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (12/6)     

• U.S. law will blacklist Russians linked to human rights abuses
  The Washington Post (12/6)     

• Profile of Abe Karem, the man who changed modern warfare
  The Economist (12/1)     

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