News Update 2/16/2010-2/23/2010

Vanderbilt Model UN Weekly Briefing

For 2/16/2010-2/23/2010

Written on 02/23/2010 at 11:00 am

Next General Body Meeting: Tuesday, March 2^nd, 2010, Furman 114 at 7:00pm

• Sudan: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will sign a ceasefire with rebel group the “Justice and Equality Movement” (Jem)
• Accord will allow Jem to become a political party
• Accord outlines sharing power “at all levels,” meaning rebels will be offered seats in the Khartoum government
• There is still an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant out for Bashir’s arrest for war crimes in Darfur
• There are no indications of peace talks with other main rebel group, Sudan Liberation Movement
• China: China has tightened internet controls
• Anyone who wants to set up a website must meet certain government regulations and produce identification documents
• The government has arrested thousands of people in the last year due to use of pornography online
• Africa (Uganda): Anti-gay protests have arisen throughout Africa in response to an anti-gay bill in Uganda calling for the death penalty for homosexuals
• For the past few weeks, police in Malawi have been openly pursuing gay activists and anyone suspected of being homosexual
• President Obama condemned the anti-gay bill, that was followed by anti-gay rallies throughout Africa
• Iran: Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s Vice-President and head of the nuclear program, has said Iran will build two new uranium enrichment plants within the next year
• Will be built in mountains “to protect them from attack”
• Iran has denied the enrichment of uranium for weapons
• According to a UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, Iran’s level of cooperation is decreasing with the agency
• Haiti: Haitian officials barred six children bound for adoption in the U.S. from boarding a flight to the U.S. amid fears of child trafficking
• Children had been adopted prior to the Jan. 12 earthquake
• Children range from ages 1-5 and are currently living in a “tent city”
• Whaling: The International Whaling Commission suggested that the commission condone commercial whaling for the first time in 30 years, in exchange for reducing the number of whales killed each year
• Aims to break a deadlock between countries that favor and oppose whaling
• Japan, Norway, and Iceland are the three nations that currently hunt whales