REUTERS - 02.11.2008 - By Hez Holland

GOMA, Congo (Reuters) - A United Nations aid convoy protected by U.N. peacekeepers will head into a rebel-held zone of east Congo on Monday to try to reach tens of thousands of civilians displaced by fighting, the U.N. said on Sunday.

The convoy will group staff and resources from U.N. agencies and humanitarian NGOs. It will leave Goma, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province, and travel north to Rutshuru, taken by Tutsi rebels on Tuesday.

(more…)

Hundreds of protesters on Monday reportedly attacked the United Nations’ headquarters in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. A UN spokeswoman said cars were damaged and windows shattered in the regional capital, Goma. The protesters are angry that a 17,000-strong UN force had not better protected them against offensive by rebel forces.
(more…)

A United Nations report has called on the Sudanese government to halt its increased military response to the ongoing rebel violence in Darfur, saying “the security condition in the region is deteriorating”. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who wrote the report on the situation in Darfur, said “an escalation in rebel violence and the military response from the Sudanese government have created a volatile situation in the region”.
(more…)

UNITED Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the world’s nuclear powers to take steps to abolish their atomic arsenals and outlined a set of proposals for eliminating all weapons of mass destruction.
The permanent members of the UN Security Council, the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, signed the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, under which they pledged to negotiate steps on scrapping their nuclear weapons.

(more…)

A UNITED Nations (UN) human rights expert says women around the world will continue to endure violence, abuse and discrimination, according to a report submitted to the UN General Assembly in New York.
(more…)

Date: Wednesday 19th November 2008
Time: 12.00 Noon
Venue: Sokoto Room, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja

Agenda

Opening Prayer
Minutes of the last BOT meeting
Comments/Corrections and adoption of the minutes
Matters arising from the minutes
Update from the Management Team
Review and ratification of the constitution
Secretariat and Funding of the Foundation
Biennial Peace Summit 2009
Other matters

Sign:

Dr Duke Igwilo MBBS, MSc, MRCPsych
Director General, Alex Ekwueme Foundation

BBC News, Tuesday, 21 October 2008

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party has called for new elections, after regional talks on the power-sharing deal were postponed for a week.

New polls are the “only way forward”, Movement for Democratic Change spokesman Nelson Chamisa told the BBC.

Neighbouring Botswana has also called for new elections.

The MDC and the ruling Zanu-PF agreed to share power last month but they cannot agree on the details. A BBC reporter says there is a lack of trust.

The BBC’s Jonah Fisher in Johannesburg says the atmosphere between the two parties is absolutely toxic.

A summit in Swaziland to discuss the deadlocked power-sharing agreement was postponed after the MDC insisted that its leader Morgan Tsvangirai be granted a passport.

(more…)

FORMER United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan has urged the Kenyan government to set up a tribunal for people accused of involvement in violence after last year’s elections.

Annan brokered a power-sharing deal, which ended the violence in February.

(more…)

Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Saad Abubakar III, has identified dialogue as the best way to achieve peace and stability in the world.
He noted that crisis and terrorism in the world today can be minimised to its barest minimum if parties to conflict engage in dialogue.
(more…)

Zimbabwe power-sharing talks stall
• STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• Parties tussle over finance, home affairs portfolios
• Reports suggest talks also stall because Mugabe wants generals protected
• Mugabe, Tsvangirai signed power-sharing deal on September 15
• The deal was to end months of turmoil and violence after the presidential poll
(CNN) — Power-sharing talks in Zimbabwe have stalled, with the government and main opposition parties unable to agree on the distribution of ministries.
(more…)