Clinton: New Libyan leadership should fill UN seat
The seat at the United Nations long held by Libya should be given over to the country's interim leaders, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested Thursday. Russia, who has long opposed the NATO bombing campaign that helped lead to the apparent overthrow of strongman Moammar Gadhafi, officially recognized the country's fledgling National Transitional Council.
UN: Israeli storming of Gaza flotilla was "excessive"
The deadly raid last year by Israeli troops on a Gaza-bound flotilla was "excessive and unreasonable," but the country's blockade of the territory is legal under international law, according to a much-anticipated UN report expected to be released today. Turkey -- which has sought an apology from Israel for the deaths of nine Turkish activists in the raid -- said it would expel the ambassador from Israel, as well as suspend all military agreements with the country.
UNHCR: Somalia famine needs not effectively met
Somalia's food woes are far from over and food shortages will last well into 2012, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres warns. Guterres said the international aid response has been insufficient to address drought and famine across the Horn of Africa and efforts need to increase.
How the U.S. military fights malaria
For decades, the U.S. Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Maryland has produced "an unparalleled outpouring of drugs and vaccines to prevent and treat malaria" as a result of experiments conducted on human volunteers. Subjects are infected with the disease -- curable if treated within 36 hours -- to test each new experimental vaccine funded through the $15 million the Defense Department spends annually on malaria research.
India taps tech in landmark anti-poverty program
India has embarked upon the creation of the world's largest biometric database, in which some 1.2 billion people will be assigned 12-digit numbers that, in conjunction with a thumbprint, can be used for identification purposes -- allowing people, far from their home villages, to obtain welfare benefits, open a bank account or get a cellphone. The new Aadhaar system, intended to pull an estimated 400 million Indians out of poverty, can verify one's identity within eight seconds using inexpensive hand-held devices linked to a mobile phone network.
U.S. urges Israeli restraint over Palestinian UN bid
Israeli officials are busy preparing their response to an imminent bid for United Nations recognition by Palestinian leaders. The U.S. State Department has urged Israel to continue to honor existing agreements with the Palestinian Authority despite tension over the UN approach.
Nuclear safety progress is lagging
Iranian officials say they are no longer interested in trading nuclear fuel as proposed by Western countries and will continue to produce its own. Diplomats warn efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency to craft mandatory nuclear safety regulations in the wake of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi disaster are making minimal progress.
World art market is warned over looted Libyan treasures
Sporadic reports of looting across Libya have spurred the United Nations culture agency to alert auction houses to be "particularly wary" of artifacts and archaeological treasures emerging from the country because they could be stolen. Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, has reportedly been in contact with authorities in Libya and neighboring countries on the need to guard against looting, particularly at the sites of 14,000-year-old cave paintings and ancient Roman cities.
Women are concerned amid Tunisia changes
Women's rights activists in Tunisia fear that the legal protections extended over the past five decades could be lost as the country forms a government to replace dictator Zine Abidine Ben Ali -- an uprising in which women played a pivotal role. One of the country's most cohesive political movements, the formerly banned Islamist party Al-Nahda, is being criticized by some even as its leader says that "women's rights are accepted by all sides."
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