Sunday, October 31, 2010

UN SETS UP EXPERT GROUP TO SUPPORT AFGHAN PEACE EFFORTS

UN SETS UP EXPERT GROUP TO SUPPORT AFGHAN PEACE EFFORTS
New York, Oct 31 2010 1:10PM
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan announced today that it has set up a group of experts to support the crucial work of a newly-formed council tasked with finding ways to ensure lasting peace in the country.

The expert body, known as the Salaam Support Group, will be available to the High Peace Council to support all aspects of its work, Staffan de Mistura, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, said in a <"http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1741&ctl=Details&mid=1882&ItemID=10838">statement following "useful and constructive" discussions between the UN and the Council.

"We commended the establishment of the High Peace Council, and indicated the United Nations availability, on behalf of the international community, to support the Council technically in their future work and activities," said Mr. de Mistura, who heads the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanis
tan (UNAMA).

The Mission also indicated its willingness to provide logistical support for the activities of the Council, which was inaugurated by President Hamid Karzai earlier this month.

"UNAMA's support to the High Peace Council is consistent with its Security Council mandate to assist the Government and the people of Afghanistan in laying the foundations for sustainable peace and development," noted the Special Representative.

"This mandate includes the role of assisting national reconciliation and encouraging regional dialogue and engagement aimed at achieving and sustaining peace."

Oct 31 2010 1:10PM
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SOMALIA: UN ENVOY CALLS ON NEW PRIME MINISTER TO FORM GOVERNMENT

SOMALIA: UN ENVOY CALLS ON NEW PRIME MINISTER TO FORM GOVERNMENT
New York, Oct 31 2010 12:10PM
The United Nations envoy for Somalia on Sunday called on the country's new Prime Minister, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, to form his government and move forward on meeting the challenges in the strife-torn Horn of Africa nation.

"I congratulate Prime Minister Mohamed and encourage him to form his government so that he can gain momentum in completing the critical tasks ahead during this transitional period," Augustine P. Mahiga, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, said in a news release issued after the new leader was confirmed.

Mr. Mahiga also acknowledged the support and close collaboration of the international community, the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in supporting and encouraging the cohesion and coherence within the Somali transitional institutions.

Mr. Mohamed was named to the position by Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ah
med two weeks ago, following the resignation in September of Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke.

The country, which has been torn apart by decades of conflict and factional strife, more recently with al-Shabaab Islamic militants, has not had a functioning central government since 1991. It also faces a dire humanitarian crisis in which 3.2 million people, more than 40 per cent of the population, is in need of aid.

Oct 31 2010 12:10PM
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LONG-AWAITED IVORIAN POLLS OFF TO GOOD START, SAYS UN ENVOY

LONG-AWAITED IVORIAN POLLS OFF TO GOOD START, SAYS UN ENVOY
New York, Oct 31 2010 12:10PM
The head of United Nations operations in Côte d'Ivoire said on Sunday that he is encouraged by the start of voting in the West African nation's long-awaited presidential elections.

"It is very encouraging because everything is going peacefully and in an orderly fashion," the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Y. J. Choi, said after touring three polling stations in the Abidjan and Sud-Comoé region.

Leading a high-level delegation composed of members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of observer missions, Mr. Choi voiced satisfaction with regard to the holding of the election, while admitting it was too early to give a definitive assessment.

"I congratulate Ivorians who have mastered their passion and emotion and have come out massively to exercise their civil right, peacefully and with discipline after having been patient for so long," he said.

The elections, originally
scheduled for as far back as 2005, were repeatedly postponed, most recently from March. They are a major step in restoring stability in the country, which was split by civil war into a Government-held south and rebel Forces Nouvelles-controlled north in 2002.

An additional 500 troops are in the country to reinforce the 8,650-strong UN peacekeeping force (UNOCI) and assist with security during the election period. A second round of voting is scheduled for 28 November if today's poll does not produce a clear winner.

Oct 31 2010 12:10PM
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SHANGHAI EXPO OFFERS 'INVALUABLE' IDEAS FOR TACKLING TODAY'S CHALLENGES -- BAN

SHANGHAI EXPO OFFERS 'INVALUABLE' IDEAS FOR TACKLING TODAY'S CHALLENGES -- BAN
New York, Oct 31 2010 11:10AM
The 2010 World Expo may be coming to a close but the ideas it has provided over the past six months are "invaluable" to tackling some of today's biggest challenges, including rapid urbanization, climate change and sustainable development, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in Shanghai on Sunday.

More than 70 million people from dozens of countries visited the Expo, the first to be organized by a city in a developing country. Mr. Ban said its theme -- "Better City, Better Life" -- was very timely, noting that more than half of the world's people currently live in cities, and that percentage will continue to grow.

"Thanks to this Expo, millions of people learned about possibilities for making our cities healthier and safer -- cities that better integrate nature and technology, cities that offer their citizens cleaner air and water, and better lives all around," he <"http://w
ww.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=4888">stated at the Expo's Summit Forum.

It offers "hope for tackling the growing challenges of our age of urbanization," he added.

The Secretary-General noted that cities remain powerful draws for jobs and economic opportunity, with people flocking to them in hopes of finding a better life. At the same time, today's cities are under enormous pressure, becoming less and less able to cope with the growing number of people moving into them.

Billions of people live in life-threatening conditions, he said, trapped in slums from which they cannot hope to escape, lacking basic amenities from fresh water and sanitation to basic shelter.

"The Shanghai Expo has given us invaluable ideas for tackling these challenges," stated Mr. Ban.

"We have seen innovations in construction and new uses of natural resources. We have been reminded of what architects and builders can do to cut energy and water use. We more fully appreciate the importance of mass transit
systems. And we understand that special attention must be given to the unique problems of the world's slums."

He expressed hope that, in all this, China will be an "urban pioneer," noting that the country is already a frontrunner in addressing the urban slum challenge and in embracing green technologies, renewable energy sources and green business models.

Mr. Ban arrived in Shanghai yesterday, and met with the Foreign Minister of China, Yang Jiechi, with whom he discussed a number of issues, including further expanding China-UN cooperation, climate change, non-proliferation, as well as the situations in the Korean peninsula, Myanmar and Sudan. They plan to continue their discussion in the capital, Beijing, in the coming days.

>From Shanghai, the Secretary-General traveled to Nanjing, where he received an honorary doctorate from one of the world's oldest centres of learning.

"By honouring me, you are recognizing the critical role of the UN in shaping our modern world, a world th
at increasingly looks to China," he <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=4889">told the gathering at Nanjing University.

Noting that the world's most populous country is its fastest growing economy, Mr. Ban said that the big question is how to ensure that this growth is sustainable.

"You have become the world's largest manufacturer and exporter. But you are also the world's greatest emitter of greenhouse gases, the price of feeding the consumption habits of people in developed countries," he said.

Also, while China is the fastest growing market for cars in the world, it lays claim to seven of the world's ten most polluted cities. Ten years of close regulation have seen the country's forests start to recover, but its paper mills and furniture makers contribute to the loss of forests in Russia, Indonesia and Brazil.

At the same time, China is not only fighting poverty, but it is beginning to fight the side-effects of prosperity -- climate change and environmental degradation
, said Mr. Ban.

China has set a target of controlling biodiversity loss by 2020, backed by state funds. Its biodiversity action plan designates 35 priority conservation areas, covering 23 per cent of the country. Also, it invested over $34 billion last year in the low-carbon economy, more than any other nation. Three of the top 10 global wind turbine makers are in China and the country commands half the global solar market.

"These facts tell me that China is serious about sustainable development," said the Secretary-General. "Let China be the country to show the way ahead. Let China show the world how to live comfortably, in harmony with the environment and leaving none of its citizens behind."

China is the last leg of the Secretary-General's four-nation Asian tour, which also included visits to Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam.

Oct 31 2010 11:10AM
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Today's News from TheEagle.com

Today's News from TheEagle.com

Link to        All Stories       | The Bryan College Station Eagle

Ready for the game

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 07:58 AM PDT

Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush salutes members of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets as they march into Kyle Field before the football game between Texas Tech and A&M on Saturday.

Texas A&M keeps it fun for fans

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:07 PM PDT

Halloween falling on the same weekend as one of the biggest home games of the year for Texas A&M University could have resulted in a busy few days for local law enforcement officers. But it was a mostly smooth day at Kyle Field, where assistan ...

Freedom 'heaven' for Graves

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:07 PM PDT

HOUSTON -- Defense attorney Jimmy Phillips Jr. was the first to learn on Wednesday of the development his team was waiting to hear, working toward, hoping for, daily. But he left it to his co-counsel, Nicole Casarez, to share the news with their clie ...

No hurry to find city managers

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:07 PM PDT

Bryan and College Station are both in the market for a new city manager, but neither is in such a hurry that it can't wait to find the right candidate.In Bryan, the city council is pleased with the performance of interim city manager Kean Register, a ...

No need to live like zombies

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:07 PM PDT

Is free will an illusion? Although many modern philosophers and neuroscientists have answered that question in the affirmative, a Texas A&M University professor says he's proved otherwise. Dr. W. R. Klemm, professor of neuroscience and veteri ...

Toyotas get 'Consumer' seal of approval

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:08 PM PDT

Eagle Staff Report Consumer Reports recently announced that it is reinstating the recommendations for eight Toyota models that were recalled in January. "We believe that Toyota has adequately addressed the problem of unintended acceleration and th ...

CS to hold memorial for fallen firefighters

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:08 PM PDT

The College Station Fire Department is scheduled to host a local Fallen Firefighters Memorial Ceremony Monday. Five firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2009 in Texas will be honored at the ceremony. The event comes almost one month after th ...

Woman arrested in terror attempt

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:06 PM PDT

SAN'A, Yemen -- Yemeni police arrested a woman on suspicion of mailing a pair of bombs powerful enough to take down airplanes, officials said Saturday as details emerged about a terrorist plot aimed at the U.S. that exploited security gaps in the w ...

Shuttle launch delayed further

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:07 PM PDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Last-minute leak repairs have again pushed back space shuttle Discovery's final launch, this time until Wednesday. NASA delayed Discovery's flight to the International Space Station yet another day because more work was nee ...

Drought stokes fire at lake bed

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:07 PM PDT

A blaze touched off by a trash fire has been smoldering for two months -- with occasional flareups -- in the bed of a twisting, narrow lake drawn down as part of northwestern Louisiana's fight against an invasive water fern. It started during the ...

Final election appeals flood voters' mailboxes

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:08 PM PDT

WASHINGTON -- Nevada Sen. Harry Reid is "an illegal alien's best friend." His opponent let insurance companies "refuse to cover colon cancer tests." In New Hampshire, the governor freed a man who "sexually molested a 7 year old." Oh, that campaign ...

Teen testifies about his torture

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:05 PM PDT

STOCKTON, Calif. -- A teenage boy who stumbled into a Northern California health club nearly two years ago almost naked with a chain shackled to his ankle testified Friday that a neighbor cut him with a knife, lit his pants on fire and beat him uncon ...

Texas man, 41, excels in semipro football league

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:07 PM PDT

BAYTOWN -- The truck drivers he oversees at his day job may not agree. Ditto for the basketball coaches whose games he refs during the winter, and the football coaches he interviews in his job as sports editor of the weekly Liberty Vindicator newspa ...

Jury urged to be tough in Guantanamo

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:06 PM PDT

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- A prosecutor urged a military jury to send a message to the world Saturday with a 25-year sentence for a former teenage al-Qaida fighter convicted of war crimes -- but it would be largely symbolic since a plea dea ...

As election looms, rally draws laughs, activism

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:06 PM PDT

WASHINGTON -- In the shadow of the Capitol and the election, comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert entertained a huge throng Saturday at a "sanity" rally poking fun at the nation's ill-tempered politics, fear-mongers and doomsayers."We live now i ...

Dems, GOP blast China

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:08 PM PDT

WASHINGTON -- In these angry political times, Democrats and Republicans agree on next to nothing. China is one exception. Democrats and Republicans alike are accusing each other of cozying up to Beijing and backing policies that send U.S. jobs and IO ...

Preserving Aggie history

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:08 PM PDT

Michael Early loads a time capsule into the top of the Aggie Ring Replica at the Haynes Ring Plaza at the Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center on Saturday. Early, the grandson of the plaza's namesake Harold "Bill" Haynes, climbed atop the ring to ...

Red dresses bring a little extra heart to Bush Museum

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:05 PM PDT

Put it on display at the Bush Library and, somehow, even the mundane becomes special. They pulled it off with wine barrels for a year and now, for the next 10 months, they'll do it with red dresses. Of course, these are not just any red dresses, but ...

Klum aims for 'cool mom' in new line

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:05 PM PDT

NEW YORK -- Heidi Klum has a closet full of stylish clothes for her public life on TV, red carpets and the party scene. It was harder to find things to pull off the "cool mom" look, though, so she decided she'd start designing them herself. Klum a ...

Our Neighbors

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:05 PM PDT

NEEDS A HOME Shayleigh is a super peppy, super spunky 1-year-old female black mouth cur/boxer mix who loves attention! She loves to go on walks and runs, and she loves to play. She also loves to curl up in your lap and give kisses. She is crate-tr ...

Calendar

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:05 PM PDT

Monday * Beginning bridge class. 9:30-11:30 a.m. College Station teen center, 1520 Rock Prairie Road. $35. 764-6371. * Star Duplicate Bridge Club. 9:45 a.m. College Station Conference Center. For partnerships, call 690-2901. * Robert Henry Chapter ...

Student of the week

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:05 PM PDT

Students of the week receive a T-shirt courtesy of The Eagle and C.C. Creations. Carmen Malave Facts: 12-year-old sixth-grader at Cypress Grove Intermediate in College Station. Parents/ guardian: Cesar and Gina Malave Favorite subject: Math Fa ...

School menus

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:05 PM PDT

Here are this week's school menus. Milk is included. Allen Academy Monday: Fish strips, broccoli, carrots, rolls, yogurt. Tuesday: Chicken fajitas, charro beans, fruit, tortillas. Wednesday: Fish tacos, lettuce, tomato, beans, fruit, Spanish ri ...

Welch-Tate

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:04 PM PDT

Audrey Britton Welch and Charles Glen Tate were joyfully united in marriage on the first day of Spring, Saturday, March 20th, 2010 at five o'clock in the afternoon at the Astin Mansion in Bryan, Texas. The Reverend Bruce Chabot officiated the double- ...

Rekieta-Burt

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:01 PM PDT

Miss Jessica Erin Rekieta and Mr. Brian Allen Burt were united in Holy Matrimony on August 28, 2010 at four o'clock in the afteroon at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Bryan. The double ring cerem ...