Friday Morning Coffee
Email | Digg! Digg | Del.icio.us

An 8-year-old Brazilian who passed a law school entrance exam has been blocked from enrolling becasuse they think he should finish elementary school first.

Top Stories

>>Jerusalem - At least one gunman entered the Merkaz Harav seminary in Jerusalem on Thursday and fired 500 to 600 bullets, killing eight and endangering a fragile lull in the violence and the possibility of the resumption of peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Israel has said that it will not break off talks.

>>Weapons - Russian arms dealer Viktor "Merchant of Death" Bout, said to be the inspiration for the protagonist in Lord of War was arrested in a Bangkok hotel room on Thursday by D.E.A. agents posing as FARC rebels attempting by buy millions in arms. He was promptly charged with conspiracy in the U.S.

>>United Nations - Two top jobs at the UN just opened up as Jean-Marie Guehenno, the Undersecretary General for Peackeeping, and Louis Arbour, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, have decided to leave their posts. Guehenno oversaw UN peacekeeping over an 8-year period, during which time the number of peacekeeping missions and peacekeepers skyrocketed at the request of the UN Security Council.

Yesterday in UN Dispatch
The Rest of the Story
Africa
...
Asia
...
Europe
...
Middle East
...

October 10, 2008


A U.S.-UN History Lesson in Georgia
Email | Digg! Digg | Del.icio.us

(The following was originally written in August 2008.)

Commentators looking to explain the recent Russo-Georgian conflict by analyzing American foreign policy have found no dearth of candidate provocations. America's support for Georgian membership in NATO, its recognition of Kosovo's independence, and its open planning to install missile defense programs in Eastern Europe all likely contributed to Russia's willingness to exert its influence in the region by force. By and large, however, these speculations have focused on the proximate causes of the past few months. The most significant American contribution to instability in Georgia, however, may actually have occurred some 15 years ago--and its story provides more resounding lessons for U.S.-UN policy than it does for U.S.-Russia relations.

More.

Dispatch Tweets
UN Dispatch's full feed
Related Posts