Signs of hope amid frustration at UN climate talks

As United Nations climate talks continue in Doha, Qatar, the U.S. is signaling openness on two of the three main sticking points in negotiations among 190 nations: the longstanding issues of "equity" and "common but differentiated responsibilities" that consider wealth and pollution history in efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The head of the U.S. delegation, Todd Stern, said his country is prepared to do more to slow climate change. Bloomberg (12/6), The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (12/5), AlertNet/Reuters (12/5)     

• Mali military intervention hinges on financing 
• U.S.: Keep telecom talks away from Internet 
• Murder shows risks for Afghan aid workers, women 
• Forced child prostitution up amid fiscal crisis 
• Ensuring the resilience of the Serengeti 
• 5 dead, hundreds injured in Egypt protests 
• Career Center 

• Mali military intervention hinges on financing
  The African Union is seeking United Nations funding to pay for a 3,300-strong regional military force to oust Islamist rebels from the northern territories of Mali. The U.S. has already begun helping to organize a proxy force of Malian and West African troops that it would train, equip and transport. The U.S. effort is dependent on UN approval of the AU's plan. Reuters (12/6), The Washington Post (12/5), Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription model) (12/6), The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (12/3), Reuters (11/29)     

• Is diplomatic compromise in the offing over Syria?
  Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria, will meet today with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in what observers said could signal a diplomatic breakthrough toward ending the country's civil war. The Washington Post (12/6)     

• Other News

• UN to reinforce Syria-based forces near Golan cease-fire line
  Yahoo/Reuters (12/5)     

• Expanding Syria conflict limiting people's access to food, UN says
  Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription model)/World Now blog (12/5)     

• Cuba denies arrest of U.S. contractor arbitrary
  The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Reuters (12/5)     

• U.S.: Keep telecom talks away from Internet
  Western powers led by the U.S. are aligning to ensure that United Nations talks to rewrite a telecommunications treaty for the first time in 25 years do not extend to the Internet. It was unclear Wednesday whether the efforts would be met with approval from the International Telecommunication Union. The Huffington Post/Reuters (12/4), National Public Radio/The Associated Press (12/4)     

• Murder shows risks for Afghan aid workers, women
  A young Afghan woman was shot to death recently by three unidentified men on motorcycles. She was walking to her first day volunteering for the agency that administers polio vaccines to children in a village in Kapisa province. The murder of the 22-year-old is the first such attack on an anti-polio worker. There have been no arrests. Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription model) (12/6)     

• Other News

• Rescue teams try to access Philippines areas cut off by typhoon
  The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (12/5)     

• Pollution in 70% of Asian cities exceeds minimum air-quality targets
  The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (12/5)     

• One dead from car bomb that damaged Red Crescent base in Syria
  Reuters (12/6)     

• Forced child prostitution up amid fiscal crisis
  The global economic crisis has accelerated the push of girls into prostitution, and increasingly at younger ages. Reductions in aid to projects that support women in the developing world are partly to blame, experts say. Reuters (12/5)     

• Ensuring the resilience of the Serengeti
  The book "Serengeti Story" is no dry textbook, even though it has more than 300 footnotes and recounts the "interdependence of its species and their recovery from disasters" caused by nature and humanity from the 1960s to 1990s, writes The Economist. The book's main question: "[H]ow can man ensure that such a place continues to exist?" The Economist (12/1)     

• Too much oversight could kill UN climate fund, investors say
  A climate fund intended to channel billions of dollars in private investments to poor countries could be "strangled at birth" by too much UN oversight, investors warn. Financial Times (tiered subscription model) (12/4)     

• Other News

• Vietnam accuses China of inhibiting energy exploration in South China Sea
  The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (12/4)     

• Photos spotlight pollution from Chinese textile manufacturers
  The Guardian (London) (12/6)     

• 5 dead, hundreds injured in Egypt protests
  Four advisers to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi have resigned amid demonstrations outside the presidential palace in Cairo that have left at least five people dead and more than 600 injured. The army, backed by tanks, is clearing protesters in the greatest violence the country has seen since its revolution. The Wall Street Journal (12/6), The Associated Press (12/6)     

• Other News

• 134 Nobel laureates ask Chinese leader to release Liu Xiaobo
  BBC (12/6)     

• Central America monitors increased U.S. security role
  Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription model) (12/4)     

• Longstanding Russian rights group buoyed by oligarch's donation
  The Wall Street Journal/Emerging Europe blog (12/5)     

Position Title Company Name Location Associate, Online Communications, UN Foundation Special Initiatives United Nations Foundation Washington, DC Raiser’s Edge Database Coordinator United Nations Foundation Washington, DC Deputy Director, Better World Campaign United Nations Foundation Washington, DC Administrative Assistant, mHealth Alliance United Nations Foundation Washington, DC Global Health Officer, Global Health United Nations Foundation Washington, DC Program Associate, mHealth Alliance United Nations Foundation Washington, DC Consultant: Regional Market Consultant, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (3 openings) United Nations Foundation Washington, DC

Click here to view more job listings.

• United Nations
• Secretary-General
• UN News Centre
• Key UN Bodies, Agencies, Funds and Programs
• UN Foundation
• UN Dispatch
• The Interdependent

UN Radio News Service

Convention to protect and assist displaced people goes into effect in Africa UN Radio

Subscriber Tools

Print friendly format | Web version | Search past news | Archive | Privacy policy

• Grab our News Widget