-The United Nations   Signs of ozone depletion are again appearing over the Antarctic, the United Nations reported today, adding that prevailing temperatures and polar stratospheric clouds indicate that the degree of ozone loss this year will most likely be about average in comparison to the past decade. However, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) noted that it is still too early to make a definitive statement on the level of depletion of ozone...

-The Hindu   Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights puts it simply: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” The death penalty is the ultimate cruel punishment. Abolitionists tend to advance two main reasons why it must go: it does not deter crime; and, as justice systems around the world are flawed, there is more than a possibility that someone...

-The United Nations   Funding disbursements from donor governments for the AIDS response in low- and middle-income countries dropped overall in 2010, mainly due to a reduction by the largest donor, the United States, the lead United Nations agency tackling the epidemic said today. According to an annual funding analysis carried out by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the Kaiser Family Foundation, donor governments disbursed $6.9 billion in 2010...

-The United Nations   Faced with increased poaching and illegal trade in ivory and horns of elephants and rhinoceroses, 300 government and civil society experts worldwide are seeking to strengthen conservation with new financial mechanisms at a United Nations-backed meeting in Geneva this week. “Innovative financial solutions are required to achieve the huge conservation task before us,” John Scanlon, Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and...

-The United Nations   The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today launched a web-based tool that gives governments and health-care providers access to clear guidance on how to scale up life-saving nutrition interventions to combat all forms of malnutrition. The WHO e-Library of Evidence for Nutrition Actions (eLENA), launched at the beginning of a three-day Asian regional meeting on nutrition in Colombo, Sri Lanka, is designed to help governments overcome one...