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- UN official: Afghan donor practices must change
The failure of international donors to coordinate their efforts and align their spending with the priorities of the Afghan government is "shameful," Mark Ward, the United Nations special adviser on development in Afghanistan says. Two-thirds of donor money spent in country is spent outside the government's budget, Ward charged. AlertNet.org/Reuters (7/7)  - Afghanistan's polio battle progresses
Immunization drives since 2001 have increased coverage to nearly 80% of Afghan children younger than 5 years old, but poor security conditions and frequent population movement continue to hamper polio eradication efforts and threaten to derail a government push to eradicate the disease by 2010. IRINNews.org (7/6) - The personal emissions cap
 The creation of a standard international individual cap on greenhouse gas emissions can help break the impasse over a new global climate treaty by forcing the world's wealthy consumers to pay the price for global warming instead of pitting poor countries against wealthy ones, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Almost half of the world's greenhouse gas emissions come from less than 1 billion people, the authors noted. AlertNet.org/Reuters (7/6)  | - China looks to manage foreign coverage of Xinjiang violence
As the latest outbreak of ethnic violence erupts in the western Xinjiang region, Chinese officials are trying a new tack to manage information about the riots: Inviting foreign media to report the story. Though officials have crippled Internet references to the riots and blocked services such as Twitter, they assembled a junket for foreign reporters, offering access to the region in hopes of stemming criticism of the government with relation to the protests. The New York Times (7/7)  | - Obama, Medvedev make progress in outlining new treaty terms
U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reached a preliminary agreement to reduce nuclear arsenals by as much as a third, presenting the best indication yet of the nuclear proliferation agreement that will replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires this year. The leaders were unable to agree on limits for missile launchers and bombers. During the second day of the summit in Russia, Obama met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and delivered a conciliatory speech -- one that was not broadcast widely by Russian media. The Washington Post (7/7) , The Independent (London) (7/7) - Han Chinese take streets after Uighurs clash with police
Ethnic Han Chinese protesters took to the streets of Urumqi in China's western Xinjiang province, brandishing makeshift weapons after violent clashes between the ethnic Uighur minority and primarily Han security forces left 156 people dead and 1,000 more injured. Paramilitary forces fired tear gas at a Han mob -- armed with clubs, pipes, shovels and cleavers -- in an effort to stop them from reaching the Uighur enclave in the western province capital. Chinese authorities imposed a curfew and police arrested more than 1,400 suspects. The New York Times (7/7) , The Wall Street Journal (7/7) - EU looks to outspoken Swede on foreign policy
 Carl Bildt's vast diplomatic experience is a boon to his candidacy as the European Union's choice to succeed outgoing foreign policy chief Javier Solana, The New York Times reports in this profile. But his outspoken demeanor makes him unpopular with governments that have questionable security and human-rights records. The New York Times (7/6) - Mexico's PRI wins big
Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party won a sweeping landslide in Congress and governorships in an election reminiscent of the mandate PRI held for 70 years before losing to the conservative party of President Felipe Calderon in 2000. The turnabout will hamper Calderon's ability to pursue his legislative agenda in his three remaining years in office. Los Angeles Times (7/7) - Honduran power brokers look to win U.S. support
Representatives from both sides of Honduras' political divide are reaching out to the U.S. as the Barack Obama administration increasingly becomes the focus of diplomatic efforts to address the country's political crisis. The U.S. has thus far adopted a relatively ambiguous public position on the country's recent coup. The New York Times (7/6)
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