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UN URGES US BUSINESS LEADERS TO SUPPORT \'GREEN' ECONOMICS  Chicago: 8 February 2008 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged hundreds of business leaders gathered in Chicago to help usher in a new era of 'green economics,' where addressing the problem of climate change becomes not a cost but an opportunity for growth.“As businesspeople, you will appreciate the power of markets and innovation to change the world. In this, the UN is your partner,” said Mr. Ban in an address Thursday evening to the Economic Club of Chicago. He stressed that any solution to climate change should involve shaping the world's economic future. “We have experienced several great economic transformations: the industrial revolution, the technology revolution, our modern era of globalization. We're now on the threshold of another – the age of green economics.” [ Read the rest... ] 
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NHRC MEDIA TRAINING SESSION: DAY FOUR, CLOSING SESSION .. Draft charter of honour on behalf of Qatari Journalists on fair media reporting of elections;• The moral responsibility of the media (Arabic); • Presentation of Discretionary Certificates;  Doha: (Qatari News Agency: 9/2/2008): A media training session jointly organized by Qatar's National Human Rights Committee and the Jordanian Amman Centre for Human Rights Studies concluded its deliberations at the NHRC HQ on Thursday, 8th February 2008. The session in which about 40 trainees from different concerned groups participated dealt with a number of related topics such as legal aspects of the election process in the State of Qatar and electoral systems and standards developed there in as well as the role of the media in election coverage. Events also included session topics and themes related to the assessment of the electoral programmes and writing of press reports in the electoral propaganda, monitoring and evaluation of electoral procedures and a work plan for media coverage of elections in addition to practical training on writing reports and the ethical media responsibilities involved. Participating Qatari journalists issued at the conclusion of the session a draft media charter of honour on behalf of Qatari journalists pledging fair coverage of elections and promising free and fair reporting. [ Read the rest... ]
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POLIO ERADICATION WITHIBN REACH-BAN KI-MOON  UN: 9 February 2008 - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said that the total eradication of polio is within sight, hailing the efforts of Chicago-based Rotary International and other United Nations partners in this effort."Rotary International has led a $600 million worldwide campaign to wipe out polio. Sometime this year, their work will be done. Polio will be history, like smallpox," said Mr. Ban in an address to the Economic Club of Chicago. The global polio partnership is spearheaded by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Over the past 20 years, the number of cases has fallen by over 99 per cent. In 2007, more than 400 million children were immunized against the disease, which remains only in northern India, northern Nigeria and the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. [ Read the rest... ]
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'ISLAM VS WEST' A FALSE DIVIDE, SAYS BAN KI-MOON  UN:8 February 2008 – Continuing an official visit to Chicago in the United States today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for action to correct the prevailing misperception that the West is in engaged in a confrontation with the Muslim world.“People should really try to understand more the cultures and traditions of others,” Mr. Ban told an informal meeting with members of the Chicago Tribune editorial board in Chicago. “There is a perception that the West is on one side and the Muslim world is on the other. We must try to cut off this misperceived linkage.” He also stressed the importance of the Alliance of Civilizations Forum held last month in Madrid. The two-day meeting in the Spanish capital brought together political leaders, the media, corporate and film industry executives, and grassroots and civil society leaders to promote the global campaign launched by the UN in 2005 to help overcome prejudices among nations, cultures and religions. [ Read the rest... ]
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NHRC MEDIA TRAINING COURSE: DAY THREE • Monitoring and evaluating electoral procedures before and after the polling process; • Further discussion of proposed Media Action Plan for covering Elections.  On the third day of the media training session participants discussed two working papers one of them dealing with the monitoring and evaluation process of electoral procedures; while the other further discussed a reporters action plan for covering an electoral event. s.In the area of monitoring and evaluating electoral procedures, the paper work in this regard included covering activities before and after taking the ballot. In the pre-ballot, the working paper identified four areas to be monitored-these are laws regulating the electoral process, the management of the electoral process, and administrative division of constituencies, and the voter registration lists. The paper also reviewed activities to be monitored in the field of administrative procedures and the nomination process along five main points starting with the call for poll, through to the nomination procedure, quarters concerned with accepting applications and placing complaints as well as publishing the final list of candidates [ Read the rest... ]
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NHRC MEDIA TRAINING COURSE: DAY TWO
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NHRC MEDIA TRAINING COURSE BEGINS  DOHA (Agencies:4/2/2008) • The National Human Rights Committee in cooperation with Jordan-based Amman Centre for Human Rights Studies (ACHRS) is organizing a four-day training course on 'Fair Coverage of Election". Dr Nizam Assaf from ACHRS and Yahya Shuqeir from Jordan, Majdi Helmi from Egypt and Suheir Shawish from Jordan are addressing the event.Dr Ali bin Simaikh Al Merri, Deputy Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), who opened the course, said that the public election is the essence of any democratic process. Fair media coverage and existence of observers are common means of securing the fairness of elections. He added: "As Qatar will witness its first public election in the nearest future for electing members to the Advisory Council, NHRC is organising this course with of an objective of raising the awareness of media personals and local civic organizations on the issue." Dr Nizam Assaf said that the training course is a continuation of the bilateral cooperation between NHRC and ACHRS. [ Read the rest... ]
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THE FAIR COVERAGE OF ELECTIONS FORUM OPENS AT NHRC HQ  Doha: NHRC: 4/2/2008- The forum under the theme, "Fair Coverage of Elections" jointly organized by the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) and the Jordan-based Amman Centre for Human Rights Studies (ACHRS) opened at the NHRC HQ this morning. The forum comprises a training course on 'Fair Coverage of Elections' and lasts until 7th February, 2008. The programme for the first day of the forum covers international criteria for fair elections and the Qatar Electoral legal system and electoral systems and standards governing legislation. On Tuesday, second day of the forum, the role of the media covering the event and reporting in the media covering the campaign. On Wednesday, the forum will discuss the monitoring and general evaluation of electoral procedure; a media plan for covering elections will be discussed on the same day as well as a practical training course on fair electoral reporting. [ Read the rest... ]
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WITNESSES SAY GAZA-EGYPT BORDER CLOSED  RAFAH, Gaza Strip:(3/2/2008): Egyptian and Hamas forces closed the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Sunday, nearly two weeks after militants blew open the frontier amid an Israeli blockade, witnesses said.One gate remained open to allow Palestinians to return to Gaza and Egyptians to return home, they said. Other than people returning home, no pedestrians or vehicles were being allowed to cross. Hardline senior Hamas leader Mahmud al-Zahar said on Saturday his movement will work with Cairo to gradually bring order to the breached border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. "We will work towards controlling the border between us and Egypt ... This has to be done gradually," Zahar told reporters as he crossed back into Gaza after two days of talks with officials in Cairo. [ Read the rest... ]
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EARTHQUAKE CASUED NO SIGNIFICAN DAMAGE TO JAPANESE NUCLEAR PLANT-IAEA  1 February 2008 (Agencies) – The impact of an earthquake last year on the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant in Japan caused no major harm to safety equipment, the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.The seven-unit plant, the world's biggest, shut down safely during the earthquake and remains shut down. A very small radioactive release at the time of the earthquake was below public health and environmental limits, the IAEA said. Phillipe Jamet, who led a team that recently viewed key internal components in the plant, said they found "no significant damage to the integrity of the plant." [ Read the rest... ]
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