If any weapon deserve to be banned, it seems that so-called "cluster bombs" fit the bill. A description from The Washington Post:

The weapons consist of canisters packed with small bombs, or "bomblets," that spread over a large area when a canister is dropped from a plane or fired from the ground. While the bomblets are designed to explode on impact, they frequently do not. Civilians, particularly children, are often maimed or killed when they pick up unexploded bombs, sometimes years later.

Despite the bombs' deplorable after-effects, the United States opted not to sign onto an agreement to ban the weapons. I'm not sure which justification is less defensible: that cluster bombs are a valuable part of the U.S. military's arsenal (they have not been used at all in over five years) or that banning them could somehow hinder the U.S.'s disaster relief efforts.

Likewise, the fact that the other major users and producers of the bombs -- Russia, China, Israel, and Pakistan -- also did not sign the treaty does not seem to warrant retaining cluster bombs for defensive reasons. That said, there may still be hope for curbing the use of these munitions. Remember: the United States also did not sign the 1997 ban on landmines -- and that has not inspired it to join the lonely ranks of Burma in planting the deadly devices. Perhaps, though, it'd be better to just sign both treaties and come out against weapons that mutilate and kill children.

Yesterday, women's rights activists and UN officials testified in Stockholm about the escalation of violence against women in Iraq since U.S. occupation:

The United Nations' special representative to Baghdad, Staffan de Mistura, cited a recent UN human rights report on Iraq as saying that 'in Basra 100 or more women had been killed or mutilated because they were wearing what was considered by some as inappropriate dress. The dress was not inappropriate at all.'

De Mistura also mentioned the high number of so-called 'honour crimes' in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

'Since the (2003 US) occupation we have seen a deterioration of women's rights,' said Lena Ag, the secretary general of the Swedish organisation Kvinna till Kvinna (Woman to Woman).

The testimony took place the day before the International Compact with Iraq (ICI) conference, which looks at the political and security status since its peace plan they launched five years ago.

Iraqi women's rights activists also stressed the importance for more women, and civil society in general, to take part in development efforts in Iraq.

'Women are a potential factor for democratic and development processes in Iraq,' said Hanaa Edwar Busha, one of the founders of the Iraqi Women Network, stressing that women represent around 55 percent of the Iraqi population.

For more information on Iraqi women's rights, check out the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq and the Iraqi Women's Rights Coalition.

Today is International Peacekeeper's Day. In a new video for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, United Nations Messenger for Peace George Clooney explains what peace is not...

To send a note of thanks to the over 100,000 peacekeepers serving in 17 conflict zones around the world, click here.

>>Myanmar - The ruling junta belittled foreign aid in the wake of the cyclone as "chocolate bars" and stated that the 2.4 million victims could "stand by themselves" in an editorial in the state-run newspaper. The junta simultaneously accused the international community of being stingy as the UN's $201 million flash appeal hasn't been filled by donor nations. Meanwhile, the NY Times reports that an "economy warped by years of misrule" is hindering aid delivery.

>>Nepal - Yesterday, a special assembly elected in April abolished Nepal's 239-year-old Hindu monarchy. The king's palace will be turned into a museum; he has 15 days to vacate.

>>Iran - Yesterday, Ali Larijani, a rival to president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the former nuclear negotiator, was elected as the speaker Iran's parliament. He is conservative and a supporter of Iran's nuclear program, but is seen as being more pragmatic and open to diplomacy. However, his election is more likely due to butter issues, discontent with Ahmadinejad's management of the economy.

• The Effects of Global Warming on America
• Clinton, Obama, McCain United on Darfur
• IHT: Even With Access, Distributing Aid in Myanmar is a Challenge

So if drowning polar bears haven't convinced you that the climate is changing, perhaps the United States Government can be more persuasive. The U.S. Climate Change Science Program has issued a report on the impacts a changing climate is having on the American landscape. From the Washington Post:

The report, which runs 193 pages and synthesizes a thousand scientific papers, highlights how human-generated carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have already translated into more frequent forest fires, reduced snowpack and increased drought, especially in the West.

This is a wake up call for citizens and policymakers alike. The effects of global warming are no longer part of a distant future scenario that we can fix when we get around to it. Already, according to the report, close to 60% of the animal species in our country have experienced some effects of a changing climate. The Department of Agriculture is already issuing warnings of increased risk of certain crop failure because of changed conditions.

All of this comes from the same administration that once encouraged more patience in verifying the science of global warming before taking policy action. This skeptical approach has given way to outright acknowledgment that global warming is real, it is man-made, and it is having effects on the United States. As floral blooming patterns and animal migrations change while forests burn and crops die, still some would say that we should do nothing. To them I ask:

What will it take?

Via the Save Darfur Coalition, the three remaining presidential candidates just issued a rare (unprecedented?) joint statement affirming their commitment to resolving the violence in Darfur.

Today, we wish to make clear to the Sudanese government that on this moral issue of tremendous importance, there is no divide between us. We stand united and demand that the genocide and violence in Darfur be brought to an end and that the CPA be fully implemented. Even as we campaign for the presidency, we will use our standing as Senators to press for the steps needed to ensure that the United States honors, in practice and in deed, its commitment to the cause of peace and protection of Darfur's innocent citizenry. We will continue to keep a close watch on events in Sudan and speak out for its marginalized peoples. It would be a huge mistake for the Khartoum regime to think that it will benefit by running out the clock on the Bush Administration. If peace and security for the people of Sudan are not in place when one of us is inaugurated as President on January 20, 2009, we pledge that the next Administration will pursue these goals with unstinting resolve.

Read the whole statement.

Here's the video

After meeting with the Secretary General last week, the Burmese military junta finally relented from their opposition to letting foreign aid workers into the country. Still, that doesn't mean delivering that aid is easy in a country where the military tightly controls the economy. From the IHT:

An SUV for $250,000 and a cellular phone for $3,000. As foreign aid workers test Myanmar's commitment to allow them to operate inside the country as part of the relief effort for Cyclone Nargis they face not only administrative hurdles erected by a xenophobic military government but an economy warped by years of misrule.

Myanmar's military limits the sale of mobile phones, bans satellite phones, sharply restricts car imports and rations gasoline to one or two gallons (between 3.5 and 7 liters) a day. The main beneficiaries of this system are government employees and military officers, who profit by selling permits, gasoline and many other items on the black market.

Aid workers from the United Nations and private aid agencies continued Wednesday to travel into the Irrawaddy Delta, the area hardest hit by the May 3 cyclone, following an agreement last week reached with the Myanmar government. Richard Horsey, the spokesman for the UN relief effort, said the military was requiring aid workers to give 48 hours' notice before traveling into the delta but that he was hearing only positive news about their access.
[snip]
"I assume we will be running out of quite a lot of things when the influx comes," said Hakan Tongul, deputy country director in Yangon of the World Food Program, a UN agency delivering supplies to the victims of the storm. "There will be logistical problems for sure."

Read more.

>>China - Chinese authorities are evacuating 150,000 citizens who are threatened by a gigantic lake that formed in Tangjiashan when a river was blocked by mudslides set loose by the earthquakes this month. Engineers continue to dig drainage areas in hopes that the lake's size might be decreased. Meanwhile, a 5.4 magnitude aftershock destroyed 420,000 houses in Sichuan's Qingchuan county and injured 63. China is seeking help from Japan's military.

>>Israel - Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak called for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to step down today, a day after American businessman Morris Talansky testified in a Jerusalem District Court that he had handed Olmert envelopes full of up to $150,000 in cash. Both Olmert and Talansky have admitted the transfer but denied it was a bribe.

>>Syria - In a meeting with British members of Parliament, including the Interior Minister, Syria's president Bashar al-Assad said that Syria intends to maintain normal relations with Iran while negotiating with Israel, contrary to Israel's demand that it abandon its alliance. The two nations confirmed indirect talks last week, the first since 2000.

• IHT: Even With Access, Distributing Aid in Myanmar is a Challenge
• Ambush on UNAMID Peacekeepers
• UN Plaza: Talking Human Rights Council Elections

Africa

• Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai says 50 killed in poll violence
• South Africa - 30 dead in South Africa as bus drives off cliff and crashes into river
• South Africa - S Africa to set up refugee camps
• Sudan - South Sudan ministers pull out of talks with U.S.
• Sudan - In Rare Move, 3 Candidates Join in Pledge on Darfur
• Somalia - More action needed to combat civilian deaths: U.N.
• Guinea - Official in Guinea Fired Amid Revolt
• Uganda - Ugandan law on protests repealed

Americas

• Chile - Pinochet Security Forces Arrested
• Mexico - 7 Federal Police Officers Killed in Shootout With Drug Cartel
• Colombia - Floods threaten Colombia
• Colombia - Colombia offers bounty for FARC founder's body
• Brazil - Brazil environment chief sworn in
• Argentina - Argentine ex-army chief on trial

East Asia

• China - China works around the clock to drain quake lake
• China - China Rushes to Evacuate 150,000 People
• China - China and U.S. resume human rights dialogue
• China - Two Aftershocks in China Destroy 400,000 Homes; No Deaths Reported
• Japan - China seeks Japan military help after quake
• Japan - Japan vows to double Africa aid, investment
• Myanmar - Myanmar junta extends Suu Kyi house arrest
• Myanmar - Progress for Aid Workers in Myanmar
• Myanmar - The mammoth aid task in Myanmar
• Myanmar - When It Comes to Politics, Burmese Say, Government Is All Too Helpful
• Vietnam - Vietnam's inflation rate surges above 25%
• Korea - China urges progress in North Korea nuclear talks
• Korea - U.S. seeks progress from North Korea talks
• Indonesia - Indonesia to pull out of Opec
• Taiwan - Historic China-Taiwan talks held

Europe

• Germany - Hard Times for Germany’s Far Right Party
• Germany - Nazi gay memorial opens in Berlin
• Italy - Twenty-five arrested over Naples rubbish
• France - Sarkozy suggests cap on fuel tax

Middle East

• Iran - Iran nuclear envoy made speaker
• Iran - Iran speaker in IAEA warning
• Israel - Olmert 'took cash in envelopes'
• Israel - Barak calls surprise news conference in Olmert case
• Lebanon - Lebanon's majority picks Siniora to lead new govt
• Iraq - A Sunni Bloc Pulls Back on Rejoining Iraqi Cabinet
• Iraq - Sadr Urges Followers To Protest U.S.-Iraq Pact
• Turkey - Turkey's $12bn package to woo Kurdish region
• Syria - Syria's Assad dismisses Israel demands over Iran

Russia and Former Republics

• Russia - Georgia demands Russian apology over spy plane
• Russia - McCain Urges New Arms Pact With Moscow

South Asia

• Nepal - Nepalis celebrate the 'dawn of the republic'
• Pakistan - US blacklists Pakistan militants
• Pakistan - Britain defense sec endorses talks with Taliban
• Bangladesh - Bangladesh parties decline talks

Last week's ambush of a convoy of Nigerian peacekeepers in Darfur -- at the hands of 60 well-armed bandits (likely janjaweed militias), wearing military uniforms and wielding machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades -- adds yet another exclamation point to the urgent need to bolster UNAMID, the joint UN-AU peacekeeping force still struggling to patrol an area the size of France with just 9,000-odd troops. UNAMID's spokesman, Norredine Mezni, captures the difficulties faced by the force well:

"We have bandits and we have armed groups and we have the (rebel) factions. With our very limited number of troops, it is not an easy job," Mezni told Reuters.

"We are a peacekeeping organisation but there is no peace on the ground to keep. We are appealing for the cooperation of all sides in this conflict. We are here to help."

Mezni could not be more on the mark. As much as the attack underscored the urgency both of deploying more peacekeepers and of better supplying those currently on the ground, the need for "cooperation of all sides" is ultimately the bedrock on which UNAMID -- as a neutral, peacekeeping force -- must operate. NYT correpondent Lydia Polgreen characterizes the attack as "a humiliating blow," but the scales seem far too overwhelmingly stacked against UNAMID to justify calling this an embarrassment. Rather, the ambush emphasizes how unattainable the mission's goals are in an atmosphere of such uninhibited obstruction from all sides. UNAMID simply cannot function when continually harassed by rebels, militias, government bureaucracy, and opportunistic raiders. Instead of depicting the UN-AU peacekeepers as hapless victims, though, the international community should recognize their unsustainable position, and take stronger steps to address the root causes of their situation.

In this week's UN Plaza, Matthew Lee and I discuss the "gold for guns" allegations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ban's diplomacy in Myanmar, the chaos in Sudan, and hopeful trends in Nepal. In the segment below, we chat about recent elections to the Human Rights Council.

In such a lawless society, perhaps this is not surprising:

U.N. experts investigating violations of an arms embargo against Somalia report that countries and private traders are supplying weapons to warlords and militants, South Africa's U.N. ambassador said Thursday.

Even more disturbing, though, is who seems to be providing the weapons. The UN monitoring group contends that the presence of Ethiopian troops backing Somalia's unstable government itself violates the arms embargo and that, in addition, some Ugandan members of the African Union peacekeeping force in the country have been selling weapons back to the insurgents that they are disarming. Both Ethiopia and Uganda have denied the allegations, but they nonetheless reflect the dangerously complicated situation in a country with all too many weapons and armed groups, and not nearly enough food or humanitarian involvement.

Many Somalis already resent what they term the Ethiopian "occupation" of their country, and the UN group's findings certainly will not improve Ethiopia's image in their eyes. The news about the peacekeepers from Uganda, which was one of only a few countries willing to contribute troops to the severely undermanned AU contingent in the country, helps explain why South Africa's UN ambassador -- who was also the head of the committee monitoring Somalia's arms embargo -- was so excited about the Security Council's recent agreement that they should begin planning to step up the UN presence there.

Oh yes, and pirates may be involved in the arms smuggling as well.

It looks like Australia will soon be making an admirable move regarding women's rights:

The Federal Government says steps are being taken to sign a United Nations protocol that aims to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.

Signing the optional protocol would enable women to complain to the United Nations if Australia violates its obligations and domestic remedies have been exhausted.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland said, "We're committed to the promotion and protection of women's rights and making gender equality a reality in Australia." He adds, "Obviously if we're to promote the rights of women within our region we need to at least set the example domestically."

Indeed.

"Who will watch the peacekeepers?" asks a former UN internal investigator in a New York Times op-ed today. The issue at hand are allegations that a contingent of Pakistani peacekeepers in eastern DRC trafficked in arms for gold with a local militia. The allegations are serious, and at least one prominent human rights organization has taken issue with the way the United Nations has handled the situation.

But the op-ed today drives at a deeper question: what to do about miscreant peacekeepers in general? Right now, there are over 100,000 peacekeepers in 19 missions around the world. The vast majority are putting their lives on the line every day to help bring peace to the most troubled places on earth. But by the laws of averages, a certain percentage is going to be bad apples. The challenge, therefore, is to reduce the percentage of bad apples through strengthening procedures that ensure individual criminal accountability.

This is much easier said than done. One of the main hurdles is jurisdiction; where should Pakistani soldiers who commit crimes in DRC be held accountable? Principals of justice would demand that the crimes be tried locally, but most places where peacekeepers are deployed don't have functioning judiciaries.

The other option is to send them home. As of June 2007, there is a new "Model Memorandum of Understanding" between a troop contributing country and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations which obliges countries to forward allegations of improprieties to national authorities. In practice, though, once a peacekeeper is repatriated there is no way for the DPKO to force prosecutors of his home country to actually take on the case. To further complicate things, the growing demand for peacekeepers around the world means there would be grave consequences for missions around the world should the DPKO refuse troop contributions from a country that does not adequately punish its miscreant peacekeepers. With demand for peacekeepers so high, punishing a major troop contributing country for reneging on its agreement with the DPKO may simply not be feasible.

One possible solution to the jurisdiction problem may be the use of on-site courts-martial. In a landmark report on peacekeeper accountability, Jordanian UN Ambassador asked Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein, (a former civilian peacekeeper) recommended this option because of its potential to demonstrate to the local population that peacekeepers do not enjoy immunity and do not go unpunished. (And because troops would still fall under national jurisdiction.) Member states and troop contributing countries have yet to fully get behind this idea. But to the extent that scandals like the current one in eastern DRC raise questions about the legitimacy of UN peacekeeping operations in the minds of locals, there must be stronger accountability mechanisms for miscreant peacekeepers.

(Image: Peacekeeping forces at a ceremony in East Timor. From Britannica. )

After a two-hour meeting with Myanmar's reclusive leader, General Than Shwe, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reports that the country will drop its opposition to foreign aid workers operating in the country. From Bloomberg:

"He has agreed to allow all aid workers regardless of nationalities," Ban told reporters in the capital, Naypyidaw, according to the UN delegation. "He has taken quite a flexible position on this matter."

This is a very promising development. Given the Myanmar government's history of shutting out foreign involvement, though, action will be much more credible than words here. Even with this commitment, it is not yet clear whether aid workers will be permitted into all areas of the country, including more remote sections of the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta region, or even what kinds of boats will be allowed to transport the aid. Had Ban's mission failed -- or if Myanmar reneges on its pledge -- then France, whose foreign minister has been outspoken in invoking the "Responsibility to Protect" doctrine, is willing to go to the Security Council to push for delivering aid "by all means necessary." Fortunately, though, Ban's focus on diplomacy seems to be paying dividends. Granting the UN -- which is ready to fully deploy, having stockpiled food and supplies for 2.4 million people -- full access is clearly the preferable option here, but it is crucial to ensure this Myanmar's openness is not more of a public relations ploy than a genuine acknowledgment of the country's desperate situation.

>>South Africa - South African troops have been deployed to stop the recent backlash against foreigners that has left 42 dead and forced 15,000 to flee. This morning raids at three hostels in Johannesburg ended in the arrest of 28 people and the seizure of drugs, arms, and ammunition. The last time troops were used to ease unrest was in 1994 at the end of apartheid era. Some members of the South African government, including the director general of the intelligence agency and the minister of intelligence, have claimed that the attacks were orchestrated by movements that supported the apartheid government.

>>Georgia - Georgia's ruling United National Movement party has crushed its opponents in the parliamentary election, securing 59.5 percent of the vote according to official results released today, and cemented the power of President Mikheil Saakashvili. The second place United Opposition Bloc, which received 17.7 percent of the vote, has complained of irregularities in both the campaign and the vote. International monitors believe that the elections were an improvement on the past, but far from perfect.

>>Italy - Nearly 20 years after it was shut down by referendum in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster, Italy's nuclear power program is to be revived. Italy, the world's biggest net importer of energy, will begin construction on new nuclear power plants by 2013.

• From Whence Cometh the League of Democracies? And Does It Matter?
• Ban in Burma
• Rood Has the Goods, Part 2

In his Washington Post op-ed this week, Jackson Diehl contends that John McCain's proposal to create a "League of Nations" does not actually originate with McCain himself:

In fact, a league of democracies is not a new but a very old idea. In the past decade it has been promoted mostly by Democrats, including several of Barack Obama's top foreign policy advisers.

Diehl then cites a number of various liberal thinkers who have proposed a "concert," a "community," an "alliance," or any other sort of coalition of democratic nations. The problem, however, is that Diehl does not fully consider the nuances of each of these particular ideas, specifically failing to distinguish between initiatives meant to be an association of democracies under the umbrella of the UN and those that merely mouth adherence to the UN system, but are more likely than not intended to supplant the global body. Senator McCain's proposal, it seems, falls under the latter category, and this, for reasons we've articulated before, is a very unproductive idea.

More broadly, though, the origins of the idea are ultimately moot. Whether Republicans or Democrats have endorsed a version of the concept will not matter much in the eyes of the rest of the world--and it is the 6.3 billion non-Americans who will likely be most affected by the creation of a new global body. Simply because an idea enjoys supposed bipartisan support (which McCain's "League of Democracies" is far from able to claim) does not mean that it should be taken up by both parties. Any idea should be assessed based not on those who support it, but on the merits of the idea itself. And in the case of an idea with so much potential to harm the global order, both parties would be wiser to abandon it entirely.

From the UN News Center:

Flying by helicopter over rice fields submerged under brown sludge, Mr. Ban visited the Kyondah relief camp, 75 kilometres south of Yangon in the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta, where many women and small children who have lost their homes and family members have taken shelter.

"I am so sorry, but don't lose your hope," Mr. Ban told a camp resident. "The United Nations is here to help you. The whole world is trying to help Myanmar."

Read more.

On the eve of the president's trip to Africa last march, Justin Rood of ABC News was the only mainstream reporter to pick up on the fact that the president's just-released budget severely underfunded peacekeeping missions in Africa. At the time, Rood's sources told him that the backlog was temporary, and that the requisite funds for peacekeeping missions in places like Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and Cote D'Ivoire would be added in the emergency supplemental.

Well, the supplemental came out recently, and sure enough it provides no additional funds for UN Peacekeeping missions in Africa. Rood, once again, is on the story:

"It's a very tight budget year," conceded Kristen Silverberg, assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, acknowledging that neither she nor Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice thought the funding request made for "an ideal situation."

The administration released its proposed peacekeeping cuts days before President Bush was scheduled to make what one paper termed his "victory lap" through the African continent. White House officials talked up the trip and Bush's commitment to the continent, telling reporters how the president "really cares about Africa."

In her testimony, Silverberg said U.S. funding for U.S. peacekeeping operations this year could reach $2.1 billion, but the administration had requested less than $1.5 billion to cover its share of the costs of U.N. peacekeeping efforts for 2009.

Just to recap, the UN's entire peacekeeping budget for some 19 missions and over 100,000 troops is about $6 billion a year, or roughly what the United States spends in Iraq in one month. What we get for this money is the deployment of foreign soldiers to International hot spots that we, ourselves would rather not go. I personally do not want to see American soldiers deployed in great numbers to Sudan, Chad, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or Haiti. But neither do I want to let these places simply fester.

Faced with the option of doing nothing, or turning these conflicts over to international troops, the United States seems to think that the latter is a good option because it is continually authorizing new missions at the Security Council. If it thought that paying for these missions just isn't worth it, it could use its veto. The current situation--approve each and every new mission, but fail to provide funding--is simply unsustainable and a recipe for disaster.

Mike Lillis at The Washington Independent makes a good point about how some commentators -- and there have been many -- have taken rather unexpected stances with regards to the question of humanitarian intervention in Burma:

The unusual nature of the crisis has turned politics on its head. Critics who have blasted the White House for a lack of diplomacy in relation to Iraq are suddenly calling for an intervention that ignores negotiation -- not to mention the sovereignty of a foreign nation. The Bush administration, in turn, seems prepared to leave the responsibility to the same United Nations it has skewered, on occasions, as inept, impotent or both.

However, Lillis' analysis misses the complexity and the continuity of these two respective groups' responses. Clearly, not all voices who opposed the Bush administration's cowboy diplomacy in the run-up to the Iraq War are calling for a unilateral invasion of Burma. As I've stressed before, even invoking the Responsibility to Protect doctrine -- which enshrines the right to overcome state sovereignty and intervene in cases of crimes against humanity -- should not be seen as a short-circuiting of diplomacy, but as an intricate extension of it. Exploring the possibility of some sort of humanitarian intervention in Burma -- not necessarily of the military variety, and, crucially, in concert with the international community -- is simply not analogous to the rush toward war in Iraq.

As for the Bush administration's response -- "leav[ing] the responsibility to the [] United Nations" -- this is not as much of a surprise as Mike suggests. We continually ask the global body to assume more and more responsibilities -- urging additional peacekeeping missions, calling for greater humanitarian responses, and pushing valuable political reconciliation missions -- yet often neglect to appreciate its accomplishments, continually decry its flaws, and even fail to fully fund its important endeavors. Unfortunately, relying on the UN and questioning the organization's value do not always seem to be mutually exclusive stances, despite the stunning contradiction of this position.

Preliminary reports from the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that American CO2 emissions rose in 2007 to 5,984 million metric tons. For those of us who use the English measurement system, that's over 13 trillion pounds. Let me just write that number out so you can see how long it is:

13,000,000,000,000 lbs.

This means that in 2007, the U.S. alone produced about a ton of carbon dioxide for every human being on the planet. If we just count the American population, our per capita emissions are about 22 tons per person. That's more than the weight of an 18-wheeler truck per person per year.

A little more perspective: for every dollar in the American economy, there is nearly a pound of CO2 produced.

These figures really draw out what I'm now calling the "American Carbon Obesity Epidemic." It is an interesting idea to think of carbon weight like human weight. By pairing Americans' collective desire to slim waistlines with the collective need to fight global warming, hopefully progress toward good habits and reasonable consumption will be made easier. Individuals could even create a "target carbon weight" and try to slim down to fit into that old climate that looked so good on us in the old days.

>>Lebanon - After five hard-fought days of negotiation in Doha, Hezbollah and Lebanon's government have agreed to a final agreement to end the 18-month political crisis. Under the agreement General Michel Suleiman, the commander of the Army, will be elected President in the next few days. Also, Hezbollah and its allies will be given an apportionment of cabinet seats sufficient to sustain a veto. And, a new electoral law, governing representative in the government, will be put up for debate.

>>Spain - A joint operation between French and Spanish authorities nabbed Francisco Javier Lopez Pena (aka Thierry), the top political leader of the Basque separatist group ETA, in Bordeaux. Pena is thought to have led ETA since the failed 2006 peace negotiations. He is also thought to have ordered the 2006 bombing of the Madrid airport, which ended a nine-month ceasefire.

>>Uganda - According to foreign investigators and humanitarian groups, the Lord's Resistance Army has stepped up its campaign of child abduction over the last month, scooping up over 100 children from the Congo, Uganda, and the Central African Republic who will likely be pressed into service or used as sex slaves. This occurred during international efforts to finalize a peace agreement between the LRA and the Ugandan government.

• Trouble in Abyei

Africa

• Tunisia - Tunisians to appeal against UK-Italy extradition
• South Africa - South Africa tries to curb attacks on foreigners
• Kuwait - Kuwaiti emir re-appoints premier
• Sudan - Heavy fighting erupts in Sudan oil town
• Ethiopia - Six million Ethiopian children at risk of malnutrition as crops fail and prices rise
• Ethiopia - Explosion rocks Ethiopian capital, fatalities reported
• Somalia - Italian Workers Kidnapped in Somalia
• Zimbabwe - Mugabe accuses opponents of violence, MPs arrested

Americas

• Mexico - Violence erupts in Mexico's drugs heartland
• Cuba - McCain says Obama soft on Cuba
• Cuba - Cuba to build 14,000 plastic houses a year
• Argentina - Farmers Ready to Resume Negotiations
• Colombia - The ecological impact of Colombia's cocaine trade

Asia

• Myanmar - Flags at half-mast as U.N. aid envoy presses Myanmar
• Taiwan - New Taiwanese president reaches out to China
• China - Survivors Rescued 8 Days After China Quake
• Malaysia - Mahathir plot fails to oust PM
• China - Aged Cling to Ruined Mountain Towns
• China - At Chinese Tent City, Order and Incongruity
• Japan - Japan to allow military use of space

Europe

• Germany - Dalai Lama Arrives in London
• Iceland - Iceland minister warns on whaling
• Belgium - Europe chips away at food prices
• Monaco - Cramped Monaco plans new district - on stilts
• Iceland - Survey puts Iceland at top of peace league
• Hungary - Australian says he's not guilty of Nazi war crimes
• Italy - Berlusconi hosts Naples meeting
• Germany - Surprise rise in German business confidence
• Spain - Spanish ministers annonce arrest of ETA leader Francisco Lopez Pena

Middle East

• Israel - Two dead in Israeli air strikes
• Iraq - Prosecutor of Saddam aide Aziz urges stiff sentence
• Iraq - 'Bush apology' for Koran shooting
• Israel - Olmert proposes naval blockade on Iran: report
• Syria - Israel confirms talks with Syria

From the IHT:

The secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, was on his way to Myanmar on Wednesday, hoping to pry open the door to more international relief aid at what he called a "critical moment" in the country's slow recovery from the cyclone that left more than 100,000 people dead or missing.

"Aid in Myanmar should not be politicized," he said as he stopped in Bangkok on Wednesday. "Our focus now is on saving lives."

But the opening offered by Myanmar appeared to be a narrow one, and some analysts said the ruling generals were conceding only enough to defuse international pressure after the May 3 cyclone.

Read more.

The United Nations estimated last week that 30,000 to 50,000 residents of the oil rich Abyei region of Sudan fled their homes last week as fighting broke out there. To understand the broader significance of Abyei, I instruct readers to turn to the Enough Campaign, which has called the region "Sudan's Kashmir," and warns that Abyei may be the place where the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Accord (which ended the 20 year civil war between the North and South) is dealt its final death knell.

Here's why.

During the CPA negotiations, the north and south were unable to reach an accord on Abyei's administrative status. The logjam over Abyei threatened to undermine the entire CPA so the United States--which was a key player in overseeing the CPA negotiations--drafted the section on Abyei and pressured both sides to sign.

Though the North in principal agreed to the Abyei protocol, it has obstructed its implementation. In fact, according to Enough Campaign expert and former State Department official Roger Winter, the NCP has refused to implement any of its provisions of the Abyei protocol, leaving the region, "without government, without services, without boundaries, without security, and without a clear future." To make matters worse, the government of Sudan has mobilized thousands of ethnic-Arab Misseriya men into the Sudanese Army. This is problematic because in late spring (i.e. around now) the Misseriya, who are Arab neighbors of the landed Ngok Dinka, traditionally migrate their herds through Ngok Dinka territory in and around Abyei.

So this is what is behind the recent outbreak of violence there. But it is also part of a larger strategy in which Khartoum is seeking to obstruct and delay the critical national elections (which were called for under the CPA to be held in 2009).

These elections, if held, may tip the political balance of power in Khartoum away from the ruling National Congress Party (NCP). The NCP is growing increasingly unpopular nationally and there is a distinct possibility that should these elections be conducted freely and fairly, the NCP will no longer dominate the government. In fact, there is a strong chance that the southern rebel movement may actually win these elections, and quite possibly form a ruling parliamentary coalition that excludes the NCP. So, to avoid that outcome, the NCP is trying to obstruct these elections by playing tribal groups against each other in order to shape the demographic makeup of the various administrative regions of Sudan to its electoral advantage. The NCP hopes to delay these elections, or forge temporary self-serving alliances to determine its outcome.

The flare up in Abyei is a manifestation of that strategy. How the international community responds will pretty much determine whether or not peace and the democratic transition of Sudan can be achieved. It may seem like an obscure side-note to the unfolding tragedy in Darfur, but resolving Abyei is quite central to the prospects of peace for the whole country.

>>Iraq - Today the Iraqi army moved again to take control of Sadr City, the stronghold of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army. The forces have already advanced three-quarters of the way through the neighborhood without meeting resistance. Iraqi security forces have never entered the remaining quarter.

>>Israel - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will be questioned again on Friday as part of an ongoing bribery investigation that could force him from office. Olmert, who has already acknowledged that U.S. businessman Morris Talansky raised money for him during two mayoral campaigns in the 1990s, is accused of taking "large sums of money from a foreigner." If indicted Olmert has said he will resign.

>>Taiwan - Taiwan's new president, Ma Ying-jeou, the Nationalist Party candidate and a former mayor of Taipei, took office today. Ma has pledged to reopen the dialogue with China. The two sides have not talked since the 1990s.

• Three Nobel Laureates Oppose Sri Lanka's Bid for the Human Rights Council
• Famine in Somalia
• UN Plaza: Faltering Peace in Northen Uganda

Africa

• Nigeria - Nigerian senator hands herself in
• Somalia - Drought and food prices threaten millions of Somalis: U.N.
• South Africa - Racial violence spreads in S Africa
• Kenya - Odinga calls for Kenyan amnesty
• Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe army accused of sniper plot to kill Morgan Tsvangirai
• Zimbabwe - Thousands seek sanctuary as South Africans turn on refugees
• Ethiopia - Ethiopian millions 'risk hunger'
• South Africa - Mbeki anger at 'shameful' attacks
• Sudan - Fighting in disputed Sudan town
• Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe scoffs at plot fantasy

Americas

• Venezuela - Venezuela says U.S. violated its Caribbean airspace