Bloomberg: "Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal were among nations that offered thousands of troops to a United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon as Israel's military transferred control of 50 percent of the region to the UN. "I think we're in business," UN Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said after envoys of almost 50 nations attended a closed meeting of potential troop contributors. The UN wants to deploy about 3,500 troops within two weeks and eventually increase to 15,000 the current force of 2,000."
"The Sudanese Government seems to be determined to pursue a major military offensive in strife-torn Darfur, building up its armed forces in the region as the situation there deteriorates ... In a closed-door briefing, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hedi Annabi also warned the Security Council that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has reiterated his opposition to a United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur and vowed that the Sudanese armed forces would fight any UN force dispatched to the region." [More]
Alertnet: "The international community may have funded historic post-war elections in Democratic Republic of Congo but it must do more to counter a humanitarian crisis that kills thousands every week, the U.N. said on Tuesday.
Food aid has been cut in half and entire families are dying from preventable diseases as aid workers struggle to tackle an emergency that continues despite the official end to the 1998-2003 war and the elections on July 30."
"The UN is trying to get an advance force of peacekeepers into Lebanon in 10-15 days, a senior official has said. The force would be up to 3,500-strong, to be boosted later to the full 15,000 agreed in the UN ceasefire resolution." [Full story]
"We're concerned because diarrhoeal diseases are a major killer of children," Edward Carwardine, UNICEF senior communications officer, said. "Forty percent of the collected stool specimens tested positive for cholera - all the more reason to accelerate our response.
"South Darfur has been a particular cause of concern, with five new suspected cases reported on 10 August and 13 on 11 August," he added. Since April, 701 cases had been reported in South Darfur alone." [More]
Washington Post: "The Israeli cabinet voted Sunday to accept a U.N.-declared cease-fire, even as Israeli military forces and Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon launched some of their most intense barrages of the war in anticipation of the Monday morning deadline. The Lebanese government and Hezbollah agreed to the cease-fire Saturday."
AP: "The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution Friday that calls for an end to the war between Israel and Hezbollah, and authorizes 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon as Israel withdraws.... Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert endorsed the resolution late Friday, after a day of brinksmanship including a threat to expand the ground war."