So, So Close to an Iran Nuke Deal

At press time here at DAWNS, it looked very likely that the P5+1 and Iran are going to agree on a final nuclear accord in the early morning hours. “A draft nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers calls for U.N. inspectors to have access to all suspect Iranian sites, including military, based on consultations between the powers and Tehran, a diplomatic source said on Tuesday.  The source also said that if the deal is accepted, a U.N. Security Council resolution on it would ideally be adopted this month and the steps to be taken by both sides – including Iranian limitations on its nuclear program and relief from sanctions on Iran – would be implemented in the first half of 2016.” (Reuters http://reut.rs/1Ddh3zX)

A Promising Ebola Vaccine…A single dose of a new Ebola vaccine that can be inhaled has been found to neutralize the deadly virus in monkeys, researchers reported on Monday. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, demonstrated that the aerosol Ebola vaccine activated immune cells in the respiratory system of rhesus macaques and provided full protection against the virus. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. It was the first attempt to use an aerosol to vaccinate monkeys against a hemorrhagic viral fever, the study’s authors said.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/1Ld1OO2)

Quote of the Day: “A trillion-dollar investment need is also a trillion-dollar investment opportunity,” — Kandeh Yumkella, the Secretary General’s Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All and CEO of the SE4All initiative. Context: A new UN  A new United Nations-backed report launched today at the Financing for Development Conference in Addis details concrete ways to boost crucial investment in sustainable energy by some $120 billion a year. (UN News Center http://bit.ly/1Ld0t9S)

Africa

Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza may find an election victory he is assured of this month swiftly overshadowed by the emergence of an armed insurgency in a nation at the heart of one of Africa’s most combustible regions. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1HCpfuy)

Security forces in Burundi said Monday they have arrested around 100 suspected rebels and seized a number of weapons in a crackdown ahead of next week’s presidential elections. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1HCpgyH)

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has replaced his entire military top brass to boost the fight against Boko Haram militants, as the group continues to launch new attacks. (VOA http://bit.ly/1Ld0EC6)

Zambian authorities on Monday dropped the case against a musician who was arrested over a bawdy song that lampooned the country’s president as a drunk incompetent. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1HCpiGT)

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni will fly to Burundi on Tuesday to mediate between government and opposition leaders, an official said, a personal intervention underlining the scale of regional alarm over an increasingly violent stand-off. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1HqmFZB)

Despite an apartheid-era ban on women working underground only being lifted in 1996, 15 percent of all employees in the mining sector are now female, exceeding the South African government’s own target of 10 percent. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1IVes46)

Africa’s Ebola epidemic has not run its course and around 30 people are still getting infected each week, the United Nations’ special envoy for the disease said on Monday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1M6f74B)

Norwegian energy company Scatec Solar is set to start construction of a 33 megawatt solar plant outside Mali’s capital, that will be the largest of its kind in West Africa when it opens in 2016, the company said on Friday.

MENA

Frustrated by the UN’s failure to deliver desperately needed aid, residents of Aden in war-torn Yemen have started to vent their anger at the world body and at rebels besieging their city. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1fCGCpo)

The United States is holding discussions with countries in North Africa about locating drones at a base there to heighten monitoring of Islamic State in Libya, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing a senior administration official. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1eWgZPg)

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has urged wealthy countries do more to help desperate Syrian war refugees, calling them “quite stingy.” (AP http://yhoo.it/1HCpllZ)

The blood on the sand has washed away, but the damage inflicted on Tunisia by a few terrifying minutes of gunfire at a beach resort will be deep and lasting. The tourism industry, the lifeline for the north African country’s economy, is likely to be gutted after 38 tourists were killed in the June 26 rampage in Sousse. (AP http://yhoo.it/1fCDzNS)

UNESCO has weighed in on the rivalry, designating Jordan’s baptismal area on the eastern bank a World Heritage site. The U.N. cultural agency declared this month that the site “is believed to be” the location of Jesus’ baptism, based on what it said is a view shared by most Christian churches. (AP http://yhoo.it/1eWh9Ge)

Asia

China’s total trade slumped in the first half of this year, official data showed Monday, falling well short of the government’s targets and dealing a blow to the global economy from its biggest trader in goods. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1eWgXXM)

Thailand has approved loans of up to $1.77 billion to support farmers affected by drought, the finance minister said on Monday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1fCDY2L)

Nearly 75 percent of China’s big cities failed to meet air quality standards in June, the environment ministry said on Monday, an improvement over the same month last year, as the country continues to wage “war on pollution.” (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1IVe6KS)

China’s biggest carbon market in Guangdong province will allocate 408 million carbon permits to firms to help them comply with emission targets set for the trading year ending in June 2016, the same amount as the previous year. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1HCpiXs)

The Malaysian police said on Monday that they were opening an investigation into whether government officials, including central bank personnel, were the source of leaked documents purporting to show the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars into the bank accounts of Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife. (NYT http://nyti.ms/1Ld1DSK )

The Americas

Security forces in Mexico are searching for one of the world’s most powerful drug lords, Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman, following his escape from a maximum-security jail on Saturday. (BBC http://bbc.in/1DbOAus)

…and the rest

The world must recognise the central role that sustainable development can play in improving global security and tackling migration as it prepares to set the development agenda for the next 15 years, a senior UN official has warned. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1fCGMNq)

A group of climate change activists cut through a perimeter fence at London Heathrow airport on Monday to stage a protest on one of its two runways, causing cancellations and delays to flights, officials said. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1eWh4SZ)

Hungary has begun building a fence on the country’s southern border with Serbia, meant to stem the unprecedented flow of migrants, the government said Monday. (AP http://yhoo.it/1HCpjuk)

Opinion/Blogs

Women in Sport – Scoring for Equality (IPS http://bit.ly/1IVdMM4)

The former US AIDS Chief Now Works for the UN to Fight TB. He’s back in Washington with a message. (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/1K3R7fb)

Should More Women Give Birth Outside The Hospital? (Goats and Soda http://n.pr/1DbOGlH)

Addis Ababa development finance summit: all you need to know (Guardian http://bit.ly/1fCGGp8)

Celebrity efforts to ‘save Africa’ ha​​ve often only reinforced stereotypes (Guardian http://bit.ly/1fCGMNx)