FrEe LaTeSt UpDaTe

Sudanese president cites peace process, but Darfur bombing continues

Even as Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir makes an appeal to the international community that his potential prosecution before the International Criminal Court would thwart peace efforts, the government continues to bomb Darfur -- leading Darfuris and observers to wonder what peace process al-Bashir is pursuing. His critics have welcomed recent discussion in the U.S. about implementing a no-fly zone in Darfur. The Christian Science Monitor (10/9)

• UN food agency appeals for food aid to Zimbabwe 
• China's small dairy farmers hit by milk scandal 
• Efforts to save turtle grind to a standstill 
• Chinese Muslim release from Guantanamo delayed 
• Career Center 
• Holy war wracks India 

• UN food agency appeals for food aid to Zimbabwe
  In the face of continued political deadlock in Zimbabwe, the UN World Food Programme has appealed to donors to meet a $140 million shortfall in food aid to the inflation-struck nation in hopes of avoiding mass starvation. Financial Times (10/9)

• UN appeal process upholds conviction of Croatian Serb leader
  United Nations appeal judges at The Hague Wednesday upheld the conviction of Croatian Serb leader Milan Martic on multiple charges of crimes against humanity for his leadership role in the murder, torture and forced displacement of non-Serbs in Croatia during the Balkan wars of the 1990s. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)/The Associated Press (10/8)

• China's small dairy farmers hit by milk scandal
  Small-scale dairy farmers in China are seeing big changes in milk collection practices as a result of the ongoing melamine contamination crisis. Opinion is divided as to whether small producers have the requisite knowledge to use the dangerous chemical to boost the measure of protein levels in milk. Los Angeles Times (free registration) (10/9)

• Malaria efforts hampered by health system limits
  Efforts to eradicate malaria by 2015 through increasing availability of existing diagnostic and preventive treatments are being hampered in some of Africa's most-afflicted countries by health systems overwhelmed by a lack of resources and presence of other deadly diseases. AllAfrica Global Media/Inter Press Service (10/8)

• Other News

• WHO: Financial crisis may equal increased mental health problems
  AlertNet.org/Reuters (10/9)

• Efforts to save turtle grind to a standstill
  The campaign to save the endangered Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle has been forced to a standstill after efforts to encourage two elderly turtles to mate during this year's mating season failed to produce offspring. The New York Times (10/8)

• Malawi farmers drive climate-change battle
  Using a combination of techniques such as crop breeding and soil management, scientists are helping Malawi's once-desperate subsistence farmers drive the battle against climate change. Environmental News Network/BBC (10/8)

• Other News

• World's fisheries waste billions annually
  BBC (10/9)

• Chinese Muslim release from Guantanamo delayed
  A U.S. federal appeals court issued a temporary stay on the federal judicial order that the U.S. must release 17 Uighurs detained at Guantanamo Bay while the U.S. Justice Department considers a broader appeal. The Washington Post (10/9)

• Other News

• Germany cracks down on neo-Nazi youth
  Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv, Israel)/Reuters (10/9)

Director of Security American Refugee Committee International Minneapolis, MN, USA Director, Gender, Women and Health World Health Organization (WHO) Geneva, Switzerland Chief of Party, Iraq Community Action Program III International Relief and Development (IRD) Iraq Assistant Country Director CARE USA Kabul, Afghanistan Administrative Assistant Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation Washington, DC IDIQ Program Manager, USA International Relief and Development (IRD) Arlington, VA IDIQ Program Manager International Relief and Development (IRD) Iraq Project Director, Cultural Heritage Project International Relief and Development (IRD) Arlington, VA Project Coordinator, Cultural Heritage Project International Relief and Development (IRD) Erbil, Iraq Senior Program Officer, Infrastructure International Relief and Development (IRD) Arlington, VA Technical/Proposal Writer, Democracy &Governance International Relief and Development (IRD) Arlington, VA Finance Associate Friends of the World Food Program Washington DC Director of Development Freedom House Washington, DC Finance and Accounting Officer (Reforming Family Law Program) - Kuwait Freedom House Kuwait Program Officer (Reforming Family Law Program) -- Kuwait Freedom House Kuwait

• Holy war wracks India
  Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decried ongoing religious hate-crime violence in the Kandhamal district of Orissa as a "national disgrace," responding to a recent escalation in Hindu-Christian conflict in which a nun has been raped, churches have been burned and 35 people have been killed. The violence was touched off by the death of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a Hindu leader whom his followers claim was murdered by Christians angered by his efforts to prevent the conversion of low-caste Hindus to Christianity. The Independent (London) (10/9)

• Zimbabwe inflation up to 231 million percent
  Despite the announcement of a power-sharing agreement between opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe, ostensibly ending the political stalemate driving inflation and economic insecurity in Zimbabwe, inflation rose from 11.2 million percent to 231 million percent in July. The World Bank has categorized Zimbabwe's as the fastest shrinking economy of any country not at war. Mail & Guardian (South Africa)/Reuters (10/9)

• Civilian death toll in Afghanistan raid upped to 33
  An internal investigation by the U.S. Central Command found that a U.S. air strike in Afghanistan killed 33 civilians, far more than initially reported, and revised downward the number of militants killed from 35 to 22. Los Angeles Times (free registration) (10/9)

• As Brazil emerges internationally, way forward divides country
  As Brazil gains recognition as a major international player, the achievement has exposed divisions internally over the tenor of the country's foreign policy, and whether Brazil should adopt a conciliatory position in line with international institutions and trends or carve its own path forward. Der Spiegel (English online version) (10/8)

• U.S. asks southeastern Europe for more Afghanistan troops
  U.S. Secretary of State Robert Gates asked southeastern European allies to increase their troop presence in Afghanistan Wednesday as a way to help counter the ongoing Taliban insurgency there. The New York Times (10/9)

• Other News

• Medvedev advocates new European-Atlantic security treaty
  The Globe and Mail (Toronto)/The Associated Press (10/8)

• Security Council likely to renew Haiti peacekeeping force
  The Washington Times/The Associated Press (10/8)

• DR Congo alleges Rwandan troop invasion
  BBC (10/9)

• Afghan-Taliban talks off table for now
  The Christian Science Monitor (10/9)

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