BREAKING NEWS: PAX GAEA WORLD POST HUMAN RIGHTS HEADLINES (12/7)
What's Holding Back Arab Women?
A long-awaited report paints a devastating picture that shows the plight of Arab women extends far beyond debates over the veil
By SCOTT MACLEOD/CAIRO
Talk to Arab women and you'll quickly learn that the controversy over the Muslim veil that rages endlessly in Europe is the least of their concerns. They face a daunting array of hardships, from spousal domination at home to gender discrimination in the workplace, and even if they happen to agree that the veil symbolizes their plight, they tend to dismiss criticism of it as a Western attack on their culture. Because the topic of women's rights in the Arab world can be as confusing as it is culturally explosive, the report released on Thursday by a panel of distinguished Arab thinkers is a welcome guide to Arabs and outsiders alike. "Towards the Rise of Women in the Arab World" is the long-awaited fourth and final installment of the Arab Human Development Report compiled under the auspices of the United Nations Development Fund. The AHDRs, including earlier reports dealing with youth, education and freedom, are the work of scores of Arab intellectuals, scholars, writers, diplomats and development specialists who command wide respect in the region and internationally. TIME Magazine (12/7)
UN seeks $450m in aid for poverty-hit Palestinians
AP
Occupied Jerusalem: The United Nations will ask donor countries to contribute a record $450 million (about Dh1,652 million) in aid to the Palestinians, whose economy has been devastated by international economic sanctions on the Hamas-led government, UN officials said yesterday. The huge aid request comes as poverty and unemployment have exploded throughout Gaza and the West Bank and the Palestinian health and education systems have been badly weakened by the shortage of funds, the UN said. About three-quarters of the $450 million being requested is earmarked for job creation, cash assistance and food aid, said David Shearer, head of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Gulf News (United Arab Emirates) (12/7)
U.N. OKs weapons trade treaty resolution
By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS — Over U.S. objections, the U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution Wednesday that could lead to the first international treaty on controlling the trade in assault rifles, machine guns and other small arms. The nonbinding resolution asks the secretary-general to seek the views of the 192-member General Assembly on the feasibility of a comprehensive treaty "establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms." Global trade in small arms is worth about $4 billion a year, of which a fourth is considered illegal. The arms cause 60 percent to 90 percent of all deaths in conflicts every year. Houston Chronicle (12/7)
Security Council backs regional peacekeeping force for Somalia
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution backing controversial plans to dispatch a regional peacekeeping force in lawless Somalia to prop up the wobbly transitional government there. The text, co-sponsored by the United States, Congo, Ghana and Tanzania, also urged Somalia's Ethiopian-backed government and its powerful Islamist foes to resume peace talks "without delay" on the basis of accords reached in Khartoum.The resolution endorsed the deployment of an 8,000-strong peacekeeping mission manned by troops from the seven-nation east African regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Japan Today (12/7)
India ahead of many in adapting to global warming
By Nita Bhalla
NEW DELHI, Dec 7 (Reuters) - India, likely to be one of the countries worst-hit by global warming, is already ahead of most developing nations in putting in place measures to help it adapt to climate change, the World Bank said on Thursday. Experts predict that the earth's temperature will rise by 2-3 degrees centigrade in the next 50 years if greenhouse gas emissions continue at current rates. This will seriously affect the Indian subcontinent and result in more frequent and more severe natural disasters like floods and droughts, more disease and poor crop yields, they add. Reuters AlertNet (12/7)
In Congo's Capital, Informal Economy Is Often the Best Opportunity
By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Foreign Service
KINSHASA, Congo -- On this day, the first sunny day in a while, Omer Waka decided to stake it all on bamboo wall calendars, a calculated gamble in a city of hustles. Lately, he had hawked soccer balls, brooms, watches and belts, sunglasses, clocks and rainbow feather dusters. But visiting the wholesale market one recent Friday, he had a feeling about the 2007 calendars, one airbrushed with Jesus, the other with the Taj Mahal. He took his savings, all $8 of it, and bought 10, figuring that he would sell the bunch on the street for $16 and that today he would eat. Washington Post (12/7)
Mexico leader to help 100 poorest towns
By IOAN GRILLO
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
MEXICO CITY -- Newly inaugurated President Felipe Calderon announced a program Wednesday to help Mexico's 100 poorest communities, responding to leftist critics who accuse the conservative leader of wanting to help only the rich. Traveling by helicopter to Tlacoachistlahuaca, a desperately poor, largely Indian community a few miles from the Pacific resort of Acapulco, Calderon promised to pave and light the town's streets and build a proper drainage system. He also pledged to build or improve about 2,500 houses at a cost of about $4 million. "Beyond the colors of political parties there is only one Mexico, a Mexico drowned in poverty and marginalization, and a Mexico that wants politicians to get to work," Calderon told families in the town's square. Seattle Post Intelligencer (12/6)
posted by Dave Carroll @ 12/07/2006 04:40:00 PM
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