Top of the Morning: Israel Plans Response to Murdered Teens

Abducted Israeli Teenagers Found Slain…”Israel’s intense 18-day search for three abducted teenagers ended Monday when three bodies were found buried under a pile of rocks in an open field about 15 miles from where the youths were last seen in the occupied West Bank. A nation that had been enmeshed in hopeful prayer was instantly engulfed by a mix of grief and anger and vowed retaliation against the militant Palestinian group Hamas, which Israel says was behind the kidnapping…Israel’s crackdown in the West Bank prompted outcries of collective punishment as thousands of homes were searched, 400 Palestinians — including many of Hamas’s top leaders — were arrested, and five were killed while hurling stones at soldiers or otherwise confronting them. A parallel escalation ensued in the Gaza Strip, where militants fired rockets daily into Israel’s south, and Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes killed three suspected militants.”  (NYT http://nyti.ms/1iU8qWm)

The International Crisis Group announced that Louise Arbour is stepping down as its president and CEO. Here’s Mark’s podcast interview with the human rights pioneer. (Global Dispatches Podcast http://bit.ly/1nYiX2m)

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Africa

The UN reports severe malnutrition among Central African Republic refugee children in Cameroon. (WFP http://bit.ly/1pR0gNg)

South Africa has reopened a claims process that compensates black families who were removed from their land under white rule to offer redress to those who failed to meet earlier deadlines, the government said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1pFgc9v)

China will reopen its embassy in Somalia after signs the East African country was making progress in its efforts to restore peace decades after the end of its civil war, the foreign ministry said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1pQXgAf)

When researchers set out to explore what work refugees and asylum seekers in Uganda had managed to find, they were struck by the breadth and scale of businesses they were engaged in – from being café owners to vegetable sellers, to farmers growing maize on a commercial scale, millers, restaurateurs, transporters and traders in fabrics and jewellery. (IRIN http://bit.ly/1pQY5Jq)

At the 2014 Partners’ Forum, being held in Johannesburg, South Africa,significant commitments in finance, service delivery and policy were announced that could put an end to maternal and child deaths. (IPS http://bit.ly/1pFhH7G)

MENA

Egypt announced deep cuts in energy subsidies in its budget for the 2014/15 fiscal year on Monday, a first step toward reducing the deficit after three years of political turmoil that have battered the economy. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1pQX6sS)

An influx of cheap counterfeit pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs, coupled with rising unemployment and an increasingly disillusioned society, is driving substance abuse in Yemen, placing a growing strain on already stretched health and policing services. (IRIN http://bit.ly/1pQXxTX

With nearly one million people currently displaced throughout North and Western Iraq, the United Nations Population Fund, warns that about 250,000 women and girls, including nearly 60,000 pregnant women, are in need of urgent care. (UNFPA http://bit.ly/1pR0sfd)

The Dutch government says it will increase its intelligence agency’s annual budget by $34 million starting in 2015 to fund efforts to prevent people from going to fight in Syria — or from committing an act of terrorism in the Netherlands when they return. (AP http://yhoo.it/1pFiKEC)

Asia

Repeated bouts of violence in Timor Leste’s recent past and a persistent sense of injustice have had a lasting mental health impact, new research shows. Researchers say recovery may require more than therapeutic interventions.. (IRIN http://bit.ly/1pQYxHx)

Thai army officials acknowledge that corruption, as well as a lack of enforcing laws against human trafficking, have led the kingdom to be branded as one of the worst offenders for forced or exploited labor. (VOA http://bit.ly/1pQZ7Ft)

Given that so many strategies have been tried and failed to control dengue in Sri Lanka, experts are now suggesting that the authorities call in help from the national Meteorological Bureau as the latest weapon in the fight against the virus. (IPS http://bit.ly/1pQZEXW)

Lead exposure lowers children’s IQ and causes aggression. But children exposed to low levels of lead show different symptoms, including more depression and anxiety, a study of preschoolers in China finds. (NPR http://n.pr/1pFi3uR)

The Americas

The Paraguayan government Monday declared the capital in disaster situation due to the serious flooding, the growth of river beds and the increase in the number of victims to 75,000 only in Asuncion. (Prensa Latina http://bit.ly/1pFgrBw)

Some Brazilian families whose homes were destroyed to allow for World Cup construction, say that it was all for nothing. (CNN http://cnn.it/1pQXU0P)

The April kidnapping in northern Nigeria of hundreds of girls by the terrorist group Boko Haram is still an everyday cause for rage, concern and, increasingly, grief. Nigerians living in New York and their sympathizers have been holding regular street demonstrations in front of the Nigerian Consulate. (VOA http://bit.ly/1pFhm4K)

Flooding from days of torrential rains has forced the evacuation of some 3,000 families in Argentina. (AP http://yhoo.it/1pFiJR4)

Opinion/Blogs

Education is a powerful weapon, so let’s arm young girls with it (Guardian http://bit.ly/1pQXsQ4)

U.S. Blames Victims of its own Failed Foreign Policies (IPS http://bit.ly/1pFhDER)

Should Uganda withdraw from South Sudan? (IRIN http://bit.ly/1pFguNH)

Research/Reports

There is still time to fulfil the key MDG of achieving universal primary education by 2015 if the world can muster the political will to reach out to millions of marginalised children, the European commissioner for development has said. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1pFgJbq)

When a government is corrupt, and serving only the interests of a privileged few, the populace reacts in protest if it has that opportunity, according to a new report.. (VOA http://bit.ly/1pFh9Pc)