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April 2006

Celebrities and Activists Rally for Darfur on the National Mall in Washington

Peter Daou - April 30, 2006 - 11:11pm

"Thousands of people joined celebrities and legislators at a rally Sunday urging the Bush administration and Congress to help end genocide in Sudan's Darfur region.... The organizers' permit anticipated 10,000 to 15,000 people would rally, one of several in U.S. cities this weekend against what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

"It is the socially responsible, good conscience thing to do," said Ron Fisher, who took a pre-dawn bus from Cleveland with his 15-year-old daughter Jordyn. "It's an opportunity to show my daughter what people do when they care about something." [More]

Iran Expected to Miss UN Deadline

Peter Daou - April 28, 2006 - 11:56am

Washington Post: "A top Iranian official handed over material on his country's nuclear program in an effort to stave off U.N. sanctions, but it may be a case of too little too late.

Diplomats said they expect U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei to find that Iran failed to meet Friday's deadline for complying with council requests to suspend uranium enrichment, setting the stage for a confrontation at the Security Council."

UPDATE: IAEA says Iran defies UN demands

Nothing But Nets

Peter Daou - April 27, 2006 - 1:49pm

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Rick Reilly: "I've never asked for anything before, right? Well, sorry, I'm asking now.

We need nets. Not hoop nets, soccer nets or lacrosse nets. Not New Jersey Nets or dot-nets or clarinets. Mosquito nets.

See, nearly 3,000 kids die every day in Africa from malaria. And according to the World Health Organization, transmission of the disease would be reduced by 60% with the use of mosquito nets and prompt treatment for the infected."

UNICEF 'Sounds Alarm' for Darfur's Children

Peter Daou - April 26, 2006 - 4:09pm

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© WFP/Nancy Palus

"Violence and lack of money is hampering humanitarian help for Sudan's Darfur region and malnutrition is rising again, the United Nations' Children's Fund said on Wednesday.

"We want to sound the alarm. We must do everything to stop this deterioration," UNICEF's representative for Sudan Ted Chaiban told journalists.

The number of people fleeing their homes to escape fighting between rebels, the army and government-backed militias had risen by 200,000 to more than 2 million in the past three months, he said." [Read more]

Blog Roundup #101

Peter Daou - April 26, 2006 - 12:55pm

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Sudan Watch: Just in from Reuters via Scotsman: the UN Security Council voted today to impose sanctions on four Sudanese accused of abuses in the Darfur conflict - excerpt of report by Evelyn Leopold: "The vote on a US-drafted resolution was 12 to 0 with three abstentions -- Russia, China and Qatar, the only Arab member of the 15-nation council. The sanctions, a travel ban and a freeze on assets abroad, were the first adopted against individuals involved in the Darfur war."

1,000 Iraqis at Risk of Nuclear Contamination, Says IAEA

Peter Daou - April 25, 2006 - 12:00pm

"More than 1,000 Iraqis who live south of Baghdad within the bombed and looted complex that was once the centre of Saddam Hussein's nuclear programme are at acute risk of radioactive poisoning, the UN's nuclear authority said yesterday.

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said it was launching a clean-up operation at the Tuwaitha plant, 14 miles south of Baghdad, and appealed for international involvement in what it said would be a long-term challenge." [Full story]

Sudan: Child Soldiers Demobilized

Peter Daou - April 24, 2006 - 2:22pm

"At least 300 child soldiers in southern Sudan handed in their guns and uniforms on Monday and will return to their families as part of an ongoing demobilisation exercise supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the agency said." [More]

Iran Says US to be Humiliated if it Attacks

Peter Daou - April 24, 2006 - 10:59am

WaPo: "Iran's defense minister said on Monday that any U.S. military attack over its nuclear programme would result in a humiliating defeat for the United States, the official IRNA news agency reported.... "Bringing up the issue of military option, threatening Iran with it ... contradicts the charter of the United Nations and other international regulations," Najjar said."

Fewer Refugees, But More Risks, UN Says

Peter Daou - April 20, 2006 - 8:43am

"The number of refugees worldwide is at a 25-year low, but a growing number of displaced people are suffering under tighter asylum restrictions and increased fears of terrorism, the UN Refugee Agency said Wednesday.

Fewer armed conflicts and large-scale repatriations to countries such as Afghanistan and Sierra Leone reduced the number of refugees to 9.2 million in 2004, compared with 18 million in 1992, according to the United Nations report "State of the World's Refugees: Human Displacement in the New Millennium."

But growing numbers of displaced people who fall outside the protections of the UN Refugee Convention -- an estimated 175 million -- are facing precarious futures amid increased security threats, growing intolerance and declines in donations, said Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees." [Full story]