This counts as a step in the right direction toward a comprehensive international climate agreement to be achieved in Paris next year. ”Negotiators from around the globe reached a climate change agreement early Sunday that would, for the first time in history, commit every nation to reducing its rate of greenhouse gas emissions — yet would still fall far short of what is needed to stave off the dangerous and costly early impact of global warming…The agreement requires every nation to put forward, over the next six months, a detailed domestic policy plan to limit its emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases from burning coal, gas and oil. Those plans, which would be published on a United Nations website, would form the basis of the accord to be signed next December and enacted by 2020.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/1zR2PWm)
The acronym you need to know to understand this agreement is “INDC,” or “Intended Nationally Determined Contribution.” Here’s what that means: (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/1sfWAoP)
Mali Seems to Have its Ebola Outbreak Under Control… “The last Ebola patient being treated in Mali has survived the disease and been released, the Health Ministry said Friday, leaving no known cases in the West African country. Mali has recorded eight cases of Ebola, all of them linked to people who crossed from neighboring Guinea. The country now has no confirmed or suspected cases, according to the ministry, but authorities are still monitoring 26 people who had contact with the sick. A person infected with Ebola can take up to 21 days to show symptoms.” (ABC http://abcn.ws/1zR3My2 )
Kaci Hickox in her own words…The nurse made famous for refusing quarantine speaks with Tom Paulson about her experience and explains, in an accompanying article, why it was important to take a stand against forced quarantine. (Humanosphere http://bit.ly/134grR0)
Ebola
Liberia’s Supreme Court on Saturday ruled that Senate elections in the West African nation should go ahead, rejecting a petition to suspend the vote until an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus is brought under control. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1AxlK6B)
After decades making brief, murderous forays from central Africa’s forests, Ebola erupted into a global emergency in 2014, yet its success could spell its downfall as scientists scramble to relegate it to a footnote of medical history. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1A9WROz)
Africa
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir hailed the International Criminal Court’s suspension of its investigations into alleged war crimes in Darfur, accusing it of trying to “humiliate and subjugate” his country. (Yahoo http://yhoo.it/134gOev)
Faced with a dearth of United Nations peacekeepers, lack of funding and competition from other global crises, relief agencies are struggling to contain a growing humanitarian disaster in Democratic Republic of Congo’s mining heartland. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1wsBrNt)
Mali has confirmed that four Islamist militants were freed in exchange for the release of French hostage Serge Lazarevic this week. (BBC http://bbc.in/1zR45IY )
In South Sudan’s Blue Nile state, refugees tell of indiscriminate bombardments, beatings, and rapes behind government lines. (GlobalPost http://bit.ly/1zSl7Xp)
One year after mass violence broke out in South Sudan, battles between government forces and rebels continue, and aid officials say international assistance is needed to help residents stave off mass hunger. (AP http://yhoo.it/1A9WiUW)
French forces have either killed or captured nearly 200 jihadists in the Sahel region of west Africa in the past year, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1A9WjbC
At least 129 people drowned when a passenger ship capsized on Lake Tanganyika in the southeast ofDemocratic Republic of Congo, according to a new official death toll Sunday. (AFPhttp://yhoo.it/1A9WjIr)
The Chinese Embassy in Madagascar expressed shock Sunday at a deadly riot involving local workers at a Chinese-run sugar plant and criticized the island nation’s government for failing to protect Chinese interests. (AP http://yhoo.it/1wsGSf8)
MENA
The Islamic State group has reportedly issued a guide on how to treat female slaves which allows jihadist militants to rape them, including girls who have not yet reached puberty. (The Blazehttp://bit.ly/1zR57ou)
A cargo ship collided with a small Egyptian fishing vessel Sunday morning in the Gulf of Suez; 14 people of the 40 person crew have been rescued, with 13 others confirmed dead. (Sputnik Newshttp://bit.ly/1zR5qzr)
A U.S. think tank analyst and former diplomat who has written articles critical of Egypt’s government said she was blocked from entering the country to attend a conference on Saturday. (Reutershttp://bit.ly/1wsBAAj)
Asia
Rescuers pulled more bodies from the debris Sunday after heavy rain in central Indonesia loosened soil and collapsed a hill, setting off a landslide that killed at least 32 villagers and left 76 others missing under piles of mud. (AP http://yhoo.it/1A9WgfO)
Afghanistan’s new President Ashraf Ghani vowed to shake up security in the capital Kabul in an angry speech on Sunday and denounced a recent surge in Taliban attacks on civilian and military targets as “un-Islamic”. (DNA http://bit.ly/1zR5E9X)
Police conducted raids in a dozen Turkish cities Sunday, detaining at least 24 people — including journalists, TV producers and police — known to be close to a movement led by a U.S.-based moderate Islamic cleric who is a strong critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (AP http://yhoo.it/1A9WfbI)
The Americas
Thousands of people descended on Washington to demand justice Saturday for black men who have died at the hands of white police, the latest in weeks of demonstrations across the United States. (AFPhttp://bit.ly/1wsHmlo)
Haiti’s Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe announced his resignation early Sunday, following repeated calls for him to step down amid anti-government protests and a political crisis in the impoverished Caribbean nation. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1A9XaZI)
A man was shot dead during a new round of anti-government protests in the Haitian capital calling for the president and prime minister to resign. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1zSlTmZ)
A group of 26 Cubans on a homemade wooden boat were granted temporary refuge in the Cayman Islands when bad weather interrupted their quest to seek exile in the United States. (Reutershttp://yhoo.it/1zSlQHQ)
Thousands of people have joined protests in Colombia against a possible amnesty for Farc rebels as part of a peace process to end 50 years of conflict. (BBC http://bbc.in/134sfms)
Opinion/Blogs
The case for cash, Exhibit 12 (Chris Blattman http://bit.ly/1BMV9qm)
Chasing Chaos: My decade in and out of humanitarian aid (book review) (Aidnographyhttp://bit.ly/1DxJMEq)
Second Woman Reports Alleged Assault (Gukira http://bit.ly/134tHVX)
How far is your water? (Development that Works http://bit.ly/1BMVjxP)
“This is not about you” (Wait… What? http://bit.ly/134tPon)
Time for the BIG Idea in the Developing World (Center For Global Development http://bit.ly/1yOSTZq)
Ending Extreme Poverty in Asia through Universal Health Coverage (USAID Impacthttp://1.usa.gov/1yOT2Mt)
Why This Week is a Big Turning Point for the Future of the ICC (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/1yOTmea)
Crowdsourcing the Fight Against Fake Drugs (The Global Anticorruption Blog http://bit.ly/1IQEVOP)
The Living Wage: a remarkable story of global progress – how big could it get? (From Poverty to Powerhttp://bit.ly/1Aa4Z1t)
Development Experts and Their Biases (An Africanist Perspective http://bit.ly/1Aa5cll)