The United Nations Foundation has announced that it will donate $1 dollar for each of the first 100,000 signatures to an online petition aimed at battling violence against women.
18,000 worldwide have already added their names to the campaign - "Say NO to violence against women" - since its launch last November. The campaign is run by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
To find out more about the campaign, and to sign on, click here.
Oscar nominations were released yesterday. If you haven't seen No Country for Old Men yet, do yourself a favor. Meanwhile, the Fed made the largest interest rate cut in over 20 years.
In other news:>>Russia continued to flex its muscles at the UK by practising strike tactics and test-launching nuclear-capable missles yesterday in the Bay of Biscay. RAF fighters were scrambled. Meanwhile, a criminal investigation was launched against Russian opposition leader, former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, putting his Presidential candidacy in doubt. Dmitry Medvedev, Putin's chosen successor launched his campaign.
>>The junta that ousted Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006 has stepped down, a day after a newly elected parliament was sworn in. The parliament is dominated by the Shinawatra-friendly People's Power party, which promises to bring him home from exile.
The End of an Error- Quick Hit: Saudi Arabia will lift ban on women drivers
- Turkmens End Holiday for Birthday of Ex-Leader
- Iraq Parliament Purges Hussein Vestiges on Flag
"We might be deprived of BMWs but we still have the Nissans and the Peugeots of the world. And if you've been in an [Iranian] Paykan, then a Peugeot seems great."
Bijan Khajepour, chairman of the Atieh Group business consultancy, on sanctions against Iran
- Rice Rebukes Bush Envoy Who Criticized Policy on North Korea
- Israel Briefly Eases Grip on Gaza
- Kenya violence continues as mediators fly in
- Annan due in Kenya to mediate in crisis
- Hackers sabotage Panama website amid election row
- War in Congo kills 45,000 people each month
- Rate cuts expected as governments try to calm markets
- Sierra Leone: Leader in Child Mortality
- Britain: Cooking Lessons for All Children
- Anxiety Crashes the Party at Davos
- Retreat of the Foreign Investor Is Singularly Painful for Japan
- China Offers Plan to Clean Up Its Polluted Lakes
- EU May Raise Emissions Costs
- European and Asian Markets Rally on News of U.S. Rate Cut
- Held Zimbabwe Opposition Leader Freed
- Palestinians break through Egypt border
- Financial Collapse Blogging
- Troubled Waters Ahead
- Colin Powell does "The View"
- Gauging Pyongyang’s Missed Deadline
- Congress investigates "Fortress America"
- North Korea too poor to fund embassy in Australia
- Questions about "A World Without Islam"?
- Cook: U.S. Nervously Eyes Lebanese Political Standoff
- Israel eyes thinking machines to fight "Doomsday" missile strikes
Over the long weekend, Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney won the Nevada caucuses, while John McCain outlasted the dirty politics of South Carolina. Last night the Dems had a firey debate in Myrtle Beach (C&L has video. )
In Other News...>>The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and rebel general Laurent Nkunda have reached a peace agreement possibly ending a conflict in eastern DRC that has driven 400,000 people from their homes and threatened the fragile, newly elected government. United Nations peacekeeping forces will maintain a buffer zone between the two forces.
Prince Charles in holographic message to energy summit
>>The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany are meeting in Berlin to discuss a possible third Security Council sanctions resolution to further pressure Iran to dismantle what some believe is a nascent nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have hardened their position against sanctions in light of the National Intelligence Estimate released earlier this year that stated that Iran discontinued its program in 2003.
>> Italy's Prime Minister Romano Prodi called for votes of confidence in both the Chamber of Deputies, where he has a decisive majority, and the Senate, where victory is not so certain. Prodi's coalition took a hit yesterday when a small Catholic party led by the Justice Minister, Clemente Mastella, quit. Mastella is under investigation for corruption.
>>Stock markets around the world declined yesterday amid fears that the U.S. economy is in recession. Analysts see this as a blow to the theory of "decoupling," which suggests that markets in Europe and Asia are now less dependent on the U.S. economy.
Climate Change News of the Weird- Prince Charles reduced his carbon footprint by appearing as a hologram at an alternative energy summit in Abu Dhabi.
- Lower-altitude ski resorts, endangered by climate change, are selling for $1.
- The Swedish University for Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala has received a grant to measure the greenhouse gases emitted when cows belch.
- Mexico Hits Drug Gangs With Full Fury of War - NY Times
- Darfur militia leader joins Sudan government - Guardian
- UN agency urges Israel to end Gaza blockade - FT
- Multiple shootings raise Kenya death toll - Times
- Prince Charles becomes first Royal Hologram - Times
- US claims negotiator snubbed in Brussels - FT
- Top Chinese economist set for Bank job - FT
- Stricter System to Trim Carbon Emissions Considered in Europe - NY Times
- As Alps Warm, a Snow-Deprived Ski Resort Sells for $1 - NY Times
- Beijing to Raise Fines on Elites Who Violate the One-Child Rule - NY Times
- More Room to Fall - WaPo
- Electricity Efforts Skip the Poorest - WSJ
- Wanted: windy cows for diet trials - Times
- France braces for detail of Sarkozy's revolution - Times
- Thailand: Democracy Returns, and Politics Comes Full Circle - NY Times
- Zambia: Nationwide Blackouts - NY Times
- Serbia: East-or-West Presidential Runoff Set - NY Times
- Woman nominated for Paraguay presidency - FT
- Long period of rising food prices forecast - FT
The head of United Nations peacekeeping is en route to the Sudan for talks with senior government officials about the joint UN-African Union Mission in Darfur.
Under-Secretary-General Jean-Marie Guehenno is expected to reach the capital, Khartoum, today to begin a four-day visit, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters. Assistant Secretary-General Jane Holl Lute is already in the African country, having visited all three states in Darfur since arriving on Friday. She returned to Khartoum today for a meeting with Mutrif Siddiq, the Undersecretary at the Sudanese Foreign Affairs Ministry.More