12 November 2008 – Israel opened its fuel crossing point with the Gaza Strip today but closed it again after less than 230,000 litres were delivered, citing ongoing clashes on the Gaza side, United Nations officials reported.

If no industrial fuel deliveries are allowed in tomorrow, Gaza’s power plant will have to be switched off this weekend, the UN Office of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) said.

Apart from the fuel crossing, all Gaza commercial crossings remained closed today for the seventh day in a row, with no humanitarian or commercial commodities being allowed in.

UNSCO said there were concerns in Gaza over the growing shortage of cooking gas and a number of bakeries have been forced to shut down, leading to worries over the availability of bread.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said the current blockade of Gaza is affecting its operations “as never before.” Materials prevented from entering Gaza include linens for a centre for blind children, textbooks for young students, and fire extinguishers.

UNRWA said yesterday that food distributions to 750,000 people in the Strip, about half the total population there, would end on Thursday unless critical supplies, including wheat, powdered milk and oil, were allowed in.

Meanwhile the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has drawn up a blueprint for “after-care” strategy to retain and expand investment in the occupied Palestinian territory by tending to investors’ immediate and long-term business development needs.

“With only $27 million in average annual inflows of foreign direct investment to the territory since 2002, there is a need to take care of existing investors – foreign and domestic – that could not be clearer,” UNCTAD said.

via UN News Service

The military junta of Myanmar has once again proven it has no place in the modern world, this time by seizing food and medical aid shipments destined for tropical cyclone victims.

Authorities in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar have seized United Nations aid intended for victims of the disaster, a move that "shuts down" future flights from the organization, according to a U.N. World Food Program official.

The organization, which insists on distributing its own relief supplies, said the seizure of two aircraft-loads of food, medcine and equipment, has already hit out at Myanmar's refusal to all access to foreign eis workers.

"This is another example of them actively getting in the way of relief getting to the victims," said Tony Banbury, Asia director of the World Food Program.

Unfortunately, the world community is doing very little about the situation. Government's are willing to send money, food, and medicine, but so far not one single government has said they are willing to make sure it reaches the people who need it. While the Burmese people are dying, leaders are asking China to put pressure on the military leadership. As we know from past experience, this will accomplish absolutely nothing.

In my own opinion, this puts the deaths of tens of thousands of people not just on the shoulders of the military junta, but of the rest of the world's political leaders who refuse to do anything more than talk about it.

Zhou Xun is China's first UN Goodwill Ambassador on the Environment
Source: Daylife

I can't claim to have seen any of her movies, but apparently Chinese actress Zhou Xun has apparently done something right, as the United Nations has selected her to be a Goodwill Ambassador on the Environment.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced on Monday that Chinese actress Zhou Xun was appointed as its first National Goodwill Ambassador with a special focus on promoting environmental sustainability.

"Zhou Xun has set a good example in her own life to protect the environment that also impacts people around her. It only seems fitting that she has chosen to help the United Nations promote environmental awareness, in particular, on the challenge of climate change," said Khalid Malik, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in China.

He said UNDP would work with Zhou Xun to motivate individuals to take part in the fight against climate change by adopting simple lifestyle habits such as using reusable chopsticks in restaurants or switching to more efficient, energy saving light bulbs.

Having signed the Letter of Designation, which must be for the smallest amount of money she has ever signed for - one dollar a year, the multi-talented award winner Zhou Xun described her appointment as an honour and responsibility.

"It's not about the message, but the delivery.The issue is how to get people to voluntarily practice the green tips they have already known and be proud to practice them. Our goal is to find a clever way to make green tips hip, fashionable and fun," said Zhou Xun.

"Everyone must do his part to tackle the challenge of climate change head-on, rather see the reduction of carbon emissions as something to be tackled by government and big industries. Everyone can make a difference," she added, citing she managed to persuade her colleagues to use reusable chopsticks when shooting film in Yunnan Province.

Some people will say that silly little appointments like this don't make any difference, but I tend to disagree. I think that at some point everyone gets a little starstruck, and celebrities can do an outstanding job of communicating a message for change. Even if their advice isn't always taken, celebrities have a power that we regular folks sometimes don't. That is, they can get people to listen.

Just yesterday I posted that George Clooney was meeting with the British Prime Minister about Darfur, which is good a step in the right direction. Gordon Brown isn't very likely to invite me to his office and listen to my complaints, but he'll damned sure listen to George Clooney.

Even if there's no immediate action, celebrities fulfill a very important function by generating dialog. And once people start talking, a few of them might actually decide to do something, and that's how change begins.

A hunger crisis could be looming for many parts of the world

The World Food Program, at a summit in London, is warning the world that we may be on the verge of a global food crisis.

Speaking Tuesday at summit in London, Josette Sheeran, executive director at the World Food Program, referred to a “silent tsunami” of hunger in many developing countries across the globe.

Rising fuel prices and unpredictable weather and demand have all become factors leading to the first global food crisis since World War II.

"What we are seeing now is affecting more people on every continent," Sheeran said.

[...]

The price of food staples have seen drastic increases in recent months. The price of rice, for example, has more than doubled in just the last five weeks.

These changes have caused deaths in Cameroon and Haiti, while sparking civil unrest.

"We are going through a very serious crisis and we are going to see lots of food strikes and demonstrations," Said Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

[...]

This problem has been growing for quite some time, and we're even beginning to feel the pinch here in the United States, with Sam's Club deciding this week to limit the sale of imported rice in order to protect their inventory.

Food supply is extremely important in the debate about climate change. We've already seen how food shortages are causing riots in Haiti and other places, and many people believe that lost resources due to climate change will continue to be a flashpoint for violent conflicts around the world.