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- UN to relocate some staff based in Pakistan
The UN announced it will temporarily relocate about 20% of its expatriate staff based in Pakistan as a result of attacks that have led to the deaths of 11 UN personnel this year -- a decision that expands a decision two months ago to suspend development work based near the border with Afghanistan. The UN will relocate staff to locations outside Pakistan or to safer areas within the country, and will re-evaluate the security situation in six months. SeattlePI.com/The Associated Press (12/31)       - Obama nominee for UN financial post withdraws
Jide Zeitlin, the nominee to oversee financial reform at the UN named by U.S. President Barack Obama, has withdrawn from consideration after indications he might have understated the legal and financial problems faced by Independent Mobile Infrastructure, the Indian wireless company he owns. The withdrawal leaves the U.S. without a nominee to begin addressing financial accountability at the UN nearly a year into Obama's administration. The Washington Post (12/31)  - WHO: H1N1 pandemic waning
The World Health Organization has confirmed at least 12,200 deaths around the world from the H1N1 flu, but evidence suggests the pandemic is declining overall. Infection rates remain high in Central and Eastern Europe but have declined significantly in North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. AlertNet.org/Reuters (12/30) - Teaching gorilla protection in Congo
Schoolchildren in the Republic of Congo capital Brazzaville are learning about gorilla protection as part of a campaign by conservationists, authorities and nongovernmental organizations to protect the threatened primates. Supporters hope the program will begin to change social attitudes toward gorillas and bolster new regulations to protect wildlife and protected areas put in place by authorities in 2008. AllAfrica Global Media/Inter Press Service (12/29) - France's carbon tax plan to get a makeover
The French Constitutional Council has blocked a proposed tax on carbon-gas emissions over concerns the legislation contains too many exemptions for polluters and threatened to make tax collection unfair. The ruling conservative party responded with plans to amend the bill and resubmit it for consideration in January. The New York Times (free registration) (12/30) - Indian official's Twitter feed tweaks higher-ups
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shashi Tharoor, a junior minister in India's government, has faced heat from senior Cabinet officials in what observers describe as a generational conflict over the use of Twitter and other social media to broadcast doubts and difficulties regarding government policy -- in particular with regard to India's new immigration policy. Los Angeles Times (12/31) - Mobile booms as connectivity, subscriptions spread in Africa
Mobile connectivity on the African continent has boomed such that South Africa, which posted 74% of all mobile connections in Africa in 2000, accounts for just 19% as of last year. Internet use and mobile subscriptions have boomed in Kenya as well as Ghana, Tanzania and Cote d'Ivoire -- while customers in South Africa are enjoying access to new applications providing Internet commerce, mobile banking and access to online government services. AllAfrica Global Media/BusinessDay (12/28) - BlackBerry to push for improved mHealth security, efficiency
BlackBerry intends to push customers to leverage their investment in the mobile company to build secure mobile applications for health professionals to improve security and efficiency -- two of the most significant challenges facing the implementation of new mHealth technology by health care providers. Mobile News (U.K.) (12/21) - Report: 100 journalists killed on the job in 2009
One-hundred journalists lost their lives while performing their duties in 2009 after two years of decline, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression says. A group of 31 journalists lost their lives in a vicious attack in the Philippines at a news conference in November, while others were murdered for their reporting or killed in military encounters. Dozens more are missing or imprisoned because of their work, the group said. The Toronto Star/The Canadian Press (12/30) - Injured children form bond that crosses Israeli-Palestinian divide
The friendship and journey of two severely injured hospital-bound young children -- one Israeli, the other Palestinian -- and their families is inspiring people around them to re-evaluate how they view individuals from other ethnic groups. Both children were wounded in violence associated with the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The New York Times (12/30)  | - African al-Qaida groups emerge as threat to U.S.
The failed attempt by a Yemen-trained Nigerian terrorist to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight between Amsterdam and Detroit on Christmas highlights an emerging threat from al-Qaida branches based in North and East Africa. Up to this point, militant Islamist groups in Somalia and Yemen have not demonstrated the capacity to directly attack the U.S. They have been perceived by authorities primarily as a threat to U.S. and Western assets in Iraq, Africa and other areas where al-Qaida affiliates operate. The New York Times (12/30) - Iranian dissident talks about troubles facing Green Movement
An Iranian dissident discusses the difficulties in using social media such as Twitter -- popular at the emergence of the so-called Green Movement after the controversial June presidential elections in Iran -- to relate details of the crackdowns of demonstrations by Iranian security forces and the Basij militia. The dissident says opposition supporters hope to appeal to more reasonable figures within the Iranian police force in hopes of curbing bloodshed seen during recent violent clashes. The Washington Independent (Washington, D.C.) (12/30)
- UN WIRE will not be published Friday
In observance of New Year's Day in the U.S., UN WIRE will not be published Friday, Jan. 1. Publication will resume Monday. |
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| | | About UN WIRE | | UN Wire is a free service sponsored by the United Nations Foundation which is dedicated to supporting the United Nations' efforts to address the most pressing humanitarian, socioeconomic and environmental challenges facing the world today. | | | | | | | | Recent UN Wire Issues: - Wednesday, December 30, 2009
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