Author Peter Daou

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Peter Daou

North Korea Confirms Return to Nuclear Talks

"North Korea said Wednesday that it was returning to nuclear disarmament talks to get access to its frozen overseas bank accounts, a vital source of hard currency.... In Washington, Bush cautiously welcomed Tuesday's deal and thanked the Chinese for brokering it. But he said the agreement would not sidetrack U.S. efforts to enforce sanctions adopted by the U.N. Security Council to punish Pyongyang for the nuclear test. Those measures ban the North's weapons trade and other items such as luxury goods." More

FAO: World Hunger Increasing

Faologo.gif "Ten years after the 1996 World Food Summit (WFS) in Rome, which promised to reduce the number of undernourished people by half by 2015, there were more hungry people in the developing countries today - 820 million - than there were in 1996.... The report listed a series of steps which, it said, was needed to eradicate hunger in the years ahead. They included: focussing programmes and investments on "hotspots" of poverty and undernourishment; enhancing the productivity of smallholder agriculture; creating the right conditions for private investment, including transparency and good governance; making world trade work for the poor, with safety nets put in place for vulnerable groups; and a rapid increase in the level of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to 0.7 percent of GDP, as promised." More

Annan: Disarming Hizbollah is a ‘Key Element’

"While acknowledging that progress has been made over the past two years in reducing foreign influence in Lebanon, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday that disarming Hizbollah is a "key element" in ensuring a permanent end to hostilities, and warned that much remains to be done to restore stability and peace." More

UN: Global Warming Gases on Rise Again

"The industrialized world's emissions of greenhouse gases are growing again, despite efforts under the Kyoto Protocol to cap them and stave off global warming, the United Nations reported Monday. Emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases declined in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the shutdown of polluting factories and power plants in eastern Europe. But now those economies are rebounding, contributing to a 2.4 percent rise in emissions by 41 industrialized nations between 2000 and 2004." More

Pronk: Government Still Seeking Military Solution in Darfur

DARFUR.jpg "In his briefing to the United Nations Security Council on Friday, the UN's top official in Sudan, Jan Pronk, highlighted the government's gross violations of the Darfur Peace Agreement and stressed that Sudan was still looking for a military solution to the deepening crisis. Pronk added that his ongoing criticism of the Sudanese government's decision to seek a military solution, having signed a ceasefire agreement, had prompted his expulsion from his position of UN Special Representative for the Secretary-General in Sudan." More

UN Humanitarian Chief: Killings Out of Control in Iraq

"The United Nations humanitarian chief said Friday that sectarian killings are "out of control" in Iraq, with about 100 deaths a day and civilians fleeing neighborhoods and towns because of the cycle of Sunni-Shiite reprisal attacks.

Women Under Attack in Iraq, Afghanistan

"Women are facing increasing violence in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, especially when they speak out publicly to defend women's rights, a senior U.N. official told the U.N. Security Council. Noeleen Heyzer, executive director of the U.N. Development Fund for Women, called on for fresh efforts to ensure the safety of women in countries emerging from conflicts, to provide them with jobs, and ensure that they receive justice, including compensation for rape." More

What Does Your Congressional Candidate Think About the UN?

cong_survey.jpg From the Better World Campaign: A majority of Americans believe in a strong United Nations and continue to support active engagement with the UN, according to a recent poll released by the Better World Campaign. So what does your 2006 Congressional candidate think about the UN? The Better World Campaign asked all 2006 Congressional candidates about their positions on U.S. funding for the United Nations, for UN peacekeeping, for repairing the out-dated and unsafe UN headquarters, and more. Click here to view the survey.