U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the International Criminal Court Monday, opening its annual two-week meeting which many see as chance to examine the credibility of the first permanent international war crimes tribunal. Ban addresses the 105-nation ICC as the court faces international criticism for its failure to prosecute Sudanese war crimes suspects. Analysts say that […]
Have you been bitten by the gift giving bug this season? Was my last post, Holiday Wish List, not enough to keep you busy, or satisfy your unquenchable need to help underprivileged children. Well then here are 20 more ways for you to help make a child's life better this year. Why not pick a […]
The U.S. government seems to be making a truly constructive move on climate change for a change. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced an agreement today between the U.S. and the E.U. proposing "eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers to environmental goods and services, particularly clean energy technologies." Trade Representative Susan Schwab will go […]
Slavery is a word many think little of in modern terms, but the word is not one which we have put behind us, it is even more present today than in yesteryears. More than 27 million people are enslaved around the world today, and today we recognize their plight and struggle for freedom, as […]
Dems Reach Deal on Energy Bill is the headline from A.P. this morning. What’s in? A 40% boost in the CAFE standards for the automakers and a 15% renewable portfolio standard for the utilities. What’s out? It appears that the rescission of the $16 billion tax breaks presently being enjoyed by the oil and gas […]
"Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise." In 1988, the UN General Assembly expressed deep concern at the pandemic proportions of the AIDS virus, and noting that the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared 1 December 1988 World AIDS Day, the General Assembly thus drafted resolution 43/15. More than 41 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, some […]
Bali and the UN meetings start next Monday, December 3, and run through midmonth. These talks are to formally kick off the negotiations for a post-Kyoto regime on addressing the climate change crisis. It seems like lots of folks are headed out there. I'm now getting about 20 emails a day inviting me to "side events" […]
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, issued an appeal to U.S. President George W. Bush requesting U.S. officials hand over Ali Hassan al-Majid , “Chemical Ali” , and two other former Iraqi officials sentenced to hang for war crimes. U.S. officials have been reluctant to hand the three officials over to the Iraqi's citing a […]
Love is the fuel that gives us life, that gives us the fight for one more day. The fuel that gives us hope and strength, which allows us to continue on the long hard journey. Love is food for the hungry, the main nourishment of a child.
The special screening was held in Washington DC last night for the acclaimed film, HOLLY, opened by Ambassador Mark Lagon, and was followed by a question and answer session, with Ambassador Lagon, Guy Jacobson, and Adi Ezroni. A young girl running desperately through the streets, being chased by two men, her tiny feet taking her […]
The chief investigator for the U.N. commission investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said the inquiry is developing new leads and “persons of interest.” Serge Brammertz, the Belgian prosecutor charged with investigating the assassination, issued his final report to the U.N. Security Council stating the investigation has produced new information. “The […]
Three buses carrying some 140 children leave Guinea-Bissau heading to Senegal, the children are not going on a school trip, but are being trafficked to work in the cotton fields of southern Senegal. Two of the buses where stopped, but the third was never found, the children's fate is grim. Only weeks before an unnamed […]
The Israeli Simon Wiesenthal Center embarked on a last ditch effort to hunt down surviving Nazis in South America. "The passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the perpetrators," the center's director, Efraim Zuroff, said. The group put out a $460,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of Dr. […]
Are the children in the West Africa worse off than they where 15 years ago, despite legislations enacted to safeguard children's rights. According to a 6-8 November conference held in Burkina Faso, to assess the progress made by governments to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child. After an assessment of governments in […]
A Sudanese minister said the government there launched legal challenge against a French charity accused of flying over a hundred children from Chad to families in Europe. Interior Minister Zubair Bashir Taha said Sudan planned to sue Zoe's Ark charitable organization for violating international laws by allegedly abducting children from villages and refugee camps in […]