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Matthew Cordell

Monday Morning Coffee

Joel and Ethan Coen, as well as Daniel Day Lewis and Javier Bardem, took home some well-deserved hardware at the Oscars last night. The NY Philharmonic meanwhile plays Pyongyang.

Top Stories

>Cuba - Raul Castro became the new president of Cuba on Sunday, promising immediately to consult his brother on every major decision. The National Assembly stuck to the old guard when filling other major responsibilities as well, selecting 76-year-old Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, "a Communist hard-liner fiercely loyal to Castros," to be the First Vice President and 70-year-old Ricardo Alacron to be the Assembly President. Some in Cuba had hoped that the mantle of leadership would pass to a younger generation.

>>Cyprus - Demetris Christofias, leader of the Communist Party, was elected president of Cyprus on Sunday, bolstering hopes that reunification of the island might be a possibility. He agreed to meet with his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, Mehmet Ali Talat, "at the earliest possible date."

>>Turkey - Several hundred Turkish troops and dozens of tanks entered Northern Iraq at the end of last week, following hours of shelling and bombing by the Turkish military. Reports of casualties vary, but Turkey admits to the loss of one of its helicopters, which the PKK claims to have shot down. The incursion sparked intense criticism from the Iraqi government, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has urged Turkey to keep it short.

Friday in UN Dispatch

Friday Morning Coffee

President Bush's dance movies in Liberia have been unfairly labeled as "David Brent-style gyrations." Obama handily wins the Democratic "global primary," but only claims .5 more delegates...don't ask me how you get half a delegate.

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>>Serbia - Hundred of thousands of Serbs protested Kosovo's declaration of independence in Belgrade, setting fire to the already closed U.S. embassy and damaging the UK embassy, which was quickly condemned by the UN Security Council.

>>Uganda - Two days after reported progress in peace talks, the Lord's Resistance Army has walked out of negotiations because the government balked at demands for cash and cabinet positions. The BBC reports on how the violence in Kenya has disrupted the food aid route from Mombasa to Kampala. The WFP has strategic reserves, but those are dwindling.

>>Missile Defense - In a predictable follow-up to yesterday's missile strike on a failing satellite, U.S. Secretary of Defense has said that the action proved that the controversial U.S. missle defense system works.

>>Pakistan - The Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-N, long-time rivals, have agreed to form a coalition government, after together claiming a majority of seats in parliamentary elections on Monday. Analysts speculate that the first acts of the new government may be to reinstate Iftikhar Chaudry as chief justice and call for a UN investigation into Bhutto's assassination. The PPP will meet to pick the next Prime Minister. Party leader and Bhutto widower, Asif Ali Zardari is not eligible.

>>Iraq - Moqtada al-Sadr has agreed to extend his ceasefire, widely thought to have reduced violence in Iraq by more than half, another six months.

>>Iran - Britain and France have formally submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council seeking another round of sanctions against Iran. They hope for passage next week. The U.S. had hoped for earlier adoption of the resolution, but several Member States pressed to wait until after the IAEA's latest report is released today.

Yesterday in UN Dispatch

Thursday Morning Coffee

The French have made Terminator-style rubber out of urine, while the Americans were focusing on a wooden car that can travel 240mph.

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>>Star Wars - The US Navy successfully hit an impaired satellite the size of a school bus that was falling to earth and potentially contained 453kg of hydrazine, a hazardous fuel. The missile was fired from a vessel off the west coast of Hawaii. The aim was to strike and disperse the contents of the fuel tank. The satellite flew 247km above the earth. The Pentagon denied that this was simply a pretext for a weapons exercise in the face of China's unabashed test last year.

>>Kenya - The Kenyan government has "more or less agreed on" the creation of a prime minister's post, a key demand of the opposition and a possible breakthrough in the political crisis. Kofi Annan sees this as considerable progress. Negotiators return on Friday, when they are expected to ink the final deal. The stakes are high says the International Crisis Group in a new report.

>>Bush's African Tour - President Bush arrived in Liberia today to meet with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first woman ever elected to head an African nation and a U.S. Medal of Freedom winner. UN peacekeepers provided security in advance of his visit. This completes President Bush's five-nation tour of Africa, which also included stops in Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ghana.

Quote of the Day

"The current uneasy calm in Kenya should not be misunderstood as a return to normalcy."
- International Crisis Group

"We will continue waiting for the 'Reflections of Comrade Fidel,' which will be a powerful arsenal of ideas and guidance."
- as written in Granma, the Cuban Communist Party newspaper

Yesterday in UN Dispatch

Wednesday Morning Coffee

Obama won in Wisconsin and Hawaii. McCain took Wisconsin and Washington State. Scientists researching the effects of climate change have found giant sea monsters near Antarctica.

Top Stories

>>Uganda - An agreement has been reached between the government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army to create a special court to handle war crimes allegations -- seen as a major stepping stone toward a full peace deal. The Lord's Resistance Army has refused to disarm as long as three of its leaders are wanted by the ICC.

>>Pakistan - Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, which won the most seats in Monday's parliamentary elections, reached out to Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N, which won the second-most seats, in an attempt to form a coalition government. Neither party claimed an outright majority in the election. A ruling coalition that controlled a two-thirds majority could impeach President Musharraf, who has said he has no plans to resign. The leader of the PPP, Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari, has said that no politician align with Musharraf will be allowed to join the coalition.

>>Gorillas - Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda have launched a joint project to protect the less-than 700 gorillas that inhabit the Virunga mountains and Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest reserve. The gorillas are a significant source of income for the region, with tourists paying up to $500 for the viewing permit alone.

Yesterday in UN Dispatch

Tuesday Morning Coffee

Obama gets the endorsement of Obama, Japan, ... well at least part of it, while McCain is endorsed by Bush, Sr. Today, Wisconsin and Hawaii will decide for themselves.

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>>Cuba - Fidel Castro has officially stepped down as the president of Cuba, citing his "physical condition" (read his letter to "compatriots").  At 49 years, this ends the world's longest reign in power, not including monarchies. In the next few days, the National Assembly will meet to chose a new head of state, expected to be his brother Raul.

>>Pakistan - President Pervez Musharraf's Pakistan Muslim League-Q party suffered a devastating loss in parliamentary elections, with most of its top leadership losing their seats. An opposition leader will likely become the next Prime Minister, but it is not yet clear whether that will be the head of Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party or Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N. The Guardian reports from Punjab.

>>Kosovo - Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on Sunday, sparking a divided reaction, both domestically and internationally. Though ethnic Albanians from around the world held a massive celebration in Kosovo, Serbs in Belgrade and northern Kosovo stoned the American Embassy, burned a border crossing, and threw a grenade at a UN building. President Bush recognized Kosovo's independence today (as did others) causing Serbia to withdraw its ambassador, while Russia suggested that recognition threatens international stability.

>>BBC World Service - More than 75 years after King George V first used "Wireless" to speak to "men and women so cut off by the snows, the desert or the sea, that only voices out of the air can reach them" through a Christmas speech prepared by Rudyard Kipling, the BBC World Service is shutting down its English-language shortwave service in Europe, another casualty of the rising price of fuel.

Quote of the Day

"I will not aspire to neither will I accept -- I repeat I will not aspire to neither will I accept -- the position of President of the Council of State and Commander in chief." - Fidel Castro, in a letter to "compatriots" on Tuesday.

"I feel the heartbeat of our ancestors. We, the leaders of our people, democratically elected, through this declaration proclaim Kosovo an independent and sovereign state." - Hashim Thaci, Prime Minister of Kosovo

Friday in UN Dispatch

Friday Morning Coffee

A day after Valentine's, and where's the love? Romney has some for McCain. I have some for Indy.

Top Stories

>>Hezbollah - In front of 10,000 mourners at the funeral of Imad Mughnieh in Beirut, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah threatened Israel with "open war," because he said, "you have killed Hajj Imad outside the natural battlefield." Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki read a letter of condolence from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Israel stepped up security in the wake of his death. Tens of thousands also gathered yesterday in Beirut to commemorate the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. (Photos of both rallies.)

>>Oceans - Science has published a report suggesting that only four percent of the world's oceans remain pristine. Roughly 41 percent has been affected strongly by human activity -- including climate change, overfishing, and pollution. The report was unprecedented in its detail: each square kilometer of ocean was examined individually.

>>Iraq - Iraq's parliament announced that it would rely heavily on the United Nations to help organize the October 1 provincial elections mandated by the package of legislation passed earlier this week.

>>Eritrea - UNMEE, the UN peacekeeping force for Ethiopia and Eritrea, has begun to withdraw from its bases. Eritrea had attempted to force the hand of the international community on a border dispute by cutting the fuel supply of the mission.

Quote of the Day

"We want to assure the Iraqi people that this time the elections will be free and transparent. We will cooperate completely with the United Nations and prevent any violations."
- Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, speaker of Iraq's Parliament

Yesterday in UN Dispatch

“A crisis is a terrible thing to waste”

Vinod Khosla, of Khosla Ventures and the founding CEO of Sun Microsystems, is one of the rock stars of this summit. His presentation, "...mostly convenient truths from a technology optimist," was sharp and witty and immediately set the summit on a new tact. Khosla has a dogged belief in technology and using bold allocations of venture capitol to reach innovative solutions. Khosla Ventures only invests in a project if he believes that it will be cost competitive with carbon within five to seven years without subsidies. Although his general purpose was beating the drum of innovation, he did specifically address renewable fuels. He seems to agree with us, at least in the promise of second-generation biofuels. Khosla suggests that corn-based ethanol will not be competitive in five years. Therefore, the recent discussion is irrelevant. However, he believes that, within ten years, everyone will believe that oil will have to rapidly decrease in price to compete with second generation biofuels.

Bush administration pushes for bilateral ties with Iraq

In an op-ed in Tuesday's Washington Post, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, confident in the steps that Iraqi leaders are taking to solidify their country's sovereignty, called on Congress to support negotiations of a "normal bilateral relationship" between the U.S. and Iraq. The U.N.'s authorization of American presence in Iraq is set to expire at the end of the year, and Rice and Gates, anticipating a longer-term need for U.S. troops, advocate for developing a renewed "status-of-forces" agreement -- which dictates the terms under which troops act -- directly between the U.S. and Iraq.

The Demand-Side Attack on Climate Change.

Diana Ferrel, the director of the McKinsey Global Institute, is currently making a convincing case for energy efficiency at the UN Investor Summit on Climate Change (the FT has a good summary). The world is obsessed with supply-side solutions to climate change (alternative utilities, renewable fuels, etc.), but demand-side solutions (i.e. increasing energy productivity) could offer remarkable results at, according to Ferrel, a profit. An investment of $194 billion a year (using ideas such as those detailed here) could yield a $17 billion a year profit, as well as getting us halfway to the reduction in carbon emissions that we need. We're talking about a possible reduction in oil consumption of 64 million barrels a day. As Ferrel puts it, even if you plus up the use of solar energy by 500 percent or wind energy by 1000 percent, you get less savings in carbon emissions than those McKinsey suggests.