UN World Food Programme Executive Director Josette Sheeran speaks about the many benefits of school feeding programs and which particular countries are helped and why. (1:07) Share This Less

Talk Radio News Service Bureau Chief Ellen Ratner interviews Ann Veneman, the Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). They speak about the biggest fundraising period for the fund, Trick or Treat for UNICEF, the goals of the fund, and the work in education, healthcare and feeding that the program does in Sudan and other underdeveloped places in the world. (4:39) Share This Less

Friends of Pakistanand United States Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice discuss the Bhutto Doctrine.  “People of Pakistan can rest assured that democracy does work and it is working”, the organization stated that the doctrine will delegate authority and allow for “regional ownership to the problems that Pakistan is having.” <br> Secretary Rice added that the doctrine will help the region “more towards a more stable and prosperous Pakistan.” <br> <a href=http://media.libsyn.com/media/talkradionews/20080926RiceandFriendsofPakistanatGA.mp3>Listen to Audio File</a> Share This Less

Daily TIPs, Biofuel, healthcare Neil Savage wrote: Boeing Begins Jet Biofuel Initiative Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has teamed up with 10 airlines, including Air France, Continental, and Virgin Atlantic, to form a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group. Flightglobal reports that the group will look for ways to make renewable jet fuel, with the goal of at least partially replacing fossil fuel used in airplanes with biofuel by 2013. Boeing is funding two studies on making jet fuel from algae or the plant jatropha, being done at the Natural Resources Defense Council and Yale. Digitizing Health Records Still a Challenge Healthcare could be dramatically improved if every doctor a patient ever saw had access to all that patient’s health records, which could happen if the records were all digital. But only 15 to 18 percent of U.S. doctors use electronic records, partly because of the upfront costs of going digital. Technology Review talks to Karen Bell, who’s in charge of promoting digital records at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, about what the problem is. Bacteria Can Produce Plastic Not all of the fossil fuel we use goes to power our cars or heat our homes: Some is used to make plastic. The Discovery Channel tells us that researchers at Genomatica, a company in San Diego, CA, say they’ve developed bacteria that make an important ingredient of the plastic that’s used in products from Spandex to car bumpers. The company says it can go into production as early as next year, and that its product will be cheaper even if the cost of oil drops as low as $50 a barrel. New Method Produces Stem Cells from Adult Cells A new method of producing stem cells from adult cells may provide a route to new therapies without the controversy of stem cells derived from embryos. New Scientist reports that researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston have been able to turn liver cells from an adult mouse into stem cells, which now have the potential to become any cell in the body. Earlier this year, Japanese scientists also turned adult cells into stem cells, but their method used a virus that left behind genes that could lead to cancer. Activists Say, Put Debates on the Internet When the presidential and vice presidential candidates debate, they should take advantage of the Internet, say people on both the left and the right of the political spectrum. A group including liberal activist Arianna Huffington and the director of Newt Gingrich’s organization, American Solutions, signed a letter calling for the candidates to put footage from the debates on the Internet, and to take “Town Hall” style questions submitted online. CNET News reports that the group says that effective use of the Internet ensures “bottom-up democracy.” Leaders Plan to Wipe Out Malaria in Seven Years Malaria is one of the world’s greatest public health problems, killing more children than any other disease. Now world leaders, including United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, say that better science, improved record-keeping, and increased philanthropy make them believe they can reduce the number of malaria deaths to zero by 2015. The Washington Post reports that donors have given more than $3 billion to the Global Malaria Action Plan. Tracking System Could Make Social Sites Profitable Google is applying a system similar to its PageRank system for ranking websites to profiles on social networks such as Facebook and MySpace. BusinessWeek says the system looks at how often people post to others’ pages and measures whether users convince others to read a news story or watch a video clip. If it works, the system should allow advertisers to target ads more precisely, allowing the sites to charge more. Obama Releases Science Funding Plan Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has released an 11-page “plan for science and innovation.” Nature reports that the plan calls for doubling the funding of the National Institutes of Health over 10 years, and spells out science policies in more specific details than had been released previously. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Less

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, discusses strategies for reducing pollution and environmental waste in relation to the Millennium Development Goals. “When we talk about the green economy,” Steiner said, “it’s not necessarily a mathametic definition we’re kooking at.” He when on to say that in the UN’s analysis, UNEP looks at “where are, in our economy, sectors emerging, jobs being created, investments being mobilized … and essentially restructuring our economy?” Listen to Audio File (5:18) Share This Less

In contrast to US president George Bush’s failure to conduct a press encounter at this week’s United Nations General Assembly, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took questions from the media during an hour-long press conference yesterday at UN headquarters in New York. During the conversation, which was at times confrontational, Ahmadinejad retained a sense of relaxed composure. Though he skirted issues such as detention of dissidents, media transparency, and nuclear threats to Israel, Ahmadinejad was willing to engage on multiple, controversial topics. Ahmadinejad spoke of his country’s willingness to allow IAEA inspectors in to Iran, and denied the possibility that Iran would preemptively attack Israel, stating that “[the world] is entering a post-nuclear” era. The president also discussed his willingness to cooperate with the Iraqi government, cautioned the West about it’s excursion in Afghanistan, and warned of the hazards of continued violence in the Middle East. Listen to Audio File (5:06), via translation Listen to Entire Press Conference (59:10), via translation Share This Less

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin meets former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in New York City, Tuesday. Ed Henry CNN White House Correspondent As she breezed through the vice presidential version of Foreign Policy 101 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings, Sarah Palin seemed to be enjoying her first big test on the international stage. “It went great!” she told reporters after a meeting with Republican foreign policy guru Henry Kissinger here in Manhattan on Tuesday. During their actual one-on-one, the microphones picked up only one little snippet of subtance when Kissinger spoke briefly about last month’s crisis in Georgia. “And you’ll give me more insight on that, also, huh?” Palin told Kissinger. “Good.” It was even lighter when Hamid Karzai sat down with Palin and she patted her heart as Afghanistan’s president told her about his relatively-new baby boy. “What’s his name?” asked Palin. “Mirwais,” said Karzai. “Mirwais, which means, ‘The Light of the House.’” “Oh nice,” she replied. Pretty low-risk for Palin and yet the McCain campaign had tried to make it no risk for her by refusing to allow reporters to join cameras in the Karzai meeting. But the five U.S. television networks said they wouldn’t air the video if a reporter couldn’t be there — a standard policy. So the McCain camp gave in and allowed a reporter in. Did the brief flap reveal that perhaps the Republican ticket is more concerned about the questions over Palin’s experience than they’re letting on publicly?        Less

Peter Hamby AC360° Political Producer McCain-Palin campaign officials shifted course Tuesday after being informed by television news organizations that they would not broadcast footage of Sarah Palin’s meeting with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai Tuesday in New York — the Republican VP nominee’s first with a foreign leader — if a reporter was not allowed in to observe the pair. CNN, which was the pool network for the event, informed the campaign of its decision. The network was then told a CNN producer would be allowed in the room to act as a media representative, just minutes before the photo op was scheduled to take place. However, print reporters and wire services were not allowed to observe the meeting, as they have been able to do at similar McCain events in the past. The press only caught a brief glimpse of the vice presidential nominee. Palin was seated in a large chair a few feet from Karzai, with a table in between them. Seated slightly behind Palin were campaign foreign policy advisers Steve Biegun and Randy Scheunemann, who are accompanying the governor in her motorcade today. Keep Reading…        Less

President Bush speaking at the U.N. Elise Labott CNN Producer Watching President Bush’s farewell speech to the United Nations General Assembly, I was struck by the about-face this administration has taken on its relevance. In his early years President Bush could barely contain his disdain for the U.N. and other global institutions. He saw it as a massive bureaucracy which tied U.S. hands and he didn’t even appoint an envoy to the U.N. for nine months after taking office. He refused to pay U.S. dues to the U.N. and withdrew from a number of international treaties supported by the U.N. members, like the international criminal court, the Kyoto Protocol and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Today he said, “the United Nations and other multilateral organizations are needed more urgently than ever.” The 9/11 attacks changed everything for President Bush. The United Nations Security Council supported the U.S. war against Afghanistan. And even the U.S. and its allies invaded Iraq without the Security Council’s authorization; President Bush lobbied the U.N. to support the American occupation and the massive project of rebuilding Iraq. Since then the U.N. has overseen two elections in Iraq and helped the country with its constitution. Since then the administration known for “going it alone” has turned to the United Nations for everything: fighting terrorism, combating nuclear proliferation and trafficking and cracking down on North Korea on Iran. President Bush worked through the United Nations to kick Syrian troops out of Lebanon and forge a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. The U.S. has pushed for peacekeeping missions in Darfur, Haiti, and Lebanon and has been a champion of U.N. efforts to fight diseases like AIDS. After allowing the U.S. to rejoin the U.N. cultural organization UNESCO, President Bush appointed first lady Laura Bush as an honorary ambassador to the organization’s literacy program. And President Bush’s daughter Jenna even worked as an intern for UNICEF, the U.N. organization advocating for children Talk about a 180. While President Bush was speaking about Iran, the pool camera cut away to Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad, who turned and waved. After three U.N. Security Council resolutions and a host of sanctions against his country, Ahmedenijad’s sense of humor seems in tact.        Less

President George Bush at the UN General Assembly today stated that success in the developing world will come from the UN member states fulfilling promises made, and that “people in the developing world have the capacity to improve their own lives.” On the importance of eliminating terrorism, the president said “the extremists find their most fertile recruiting grounds in societies trapped in chaos and despair … places where people see no prospect of a better life.” “Success of these efforts must be measured by more than intentions, they must be measured by results” Listen to Audio File (2:17) - Bush at the UN: Results Needed Share This Less

George Bush addressed the United Nations General Assembly on the importance of confronting terrorism: “We must work closely to keep terrorist attacks from happening in the first place,” the president said, “we must actively challenge the conditions of tyranny and despair that allow terror and extremists to thrive” Listen to Audio File (0:41) - Bush at the UN: Nations Must Continually Confront Terror Share This Less

Elise Labott CNN Producer I arrived in NY this week ready for battle. It’s always a treat to come to “un-ga,” as this week at the United Nations General Assembly is affectionately called, and catch up with friends and contacts from around the world. But we always come knowing that getting from point A to point B will be a lesson in sheer fortitude. However, this year hasn’t been so bad. Maybe it was my new approach. As a native New Yorker, I usually yell at the policemen stationed around the city to let me through the barriers with no luck. But I was surprised what a knowing smile and a kind word can get you in this city. What could have been a three-hour trip to the UN only took one hour and a half, thanks to some nice men in blue. It’s not only the cops who seem a lot more patient and cooperative. There is new electricity in the halls of the UN and on the streets on NY this year. Yes, everyone is talking about the same issues: Iran, North Korea, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and aid to Africa. But it is with the realization that next year a new US president will be addressing the UN General Assembly. And everyone is curious, if not downright excited, about the candidates showing up in NY this week and who they will be meeting with. This year it isn’t about, “will President Bush or Condi Rice see so-and-so leader.” It’s all about it is about, “who is Sarah Palin meeting with?” and, “will Obama show?” Palin is in NY this week for a crash course on foreign policy. While she is here she is expected to meet the presidents of Afghanistan, Colombia and Georgia as well as Henry Kissinger. Quite a line-up. But no UNGA visit would be complete for a world leader-in-training without a meeting with Bono. Bob Geldorf and the U2 star gave a press conference Monday to promote a new program to help farmers in Africa cope with the world food crisis. But truth be told, most of the people were really curious about Bono’s planned meeting on Tuesday with Palin. He’s meeting with her (and McCain, too, by the way but let’s face it, Palin seems to be the big draw here) to discuss his ONE campaign to fight poverty and AIDS around the world. He told us he knows that the candidates aren’t going to bang their chests about Africa every day until the election, but he asked both political parties “not to play politics with the poorest of the poor” this campaign season. This celebrity tag team (Geldorf refers to himself and Bono as “Mutt and Jeff”) is as well versed on issues related to poverty and Africa as any world leaders. Geldorf , who never pulls any punches, says that in his opinion, “all politicians are wankers,” but noted that President Bush quadrupled aid to Africa on his watch and “good on him.”        Less

Miguel d’Escoto of Nicaragua, President of the 63rd session, opens the General Assembly with statements on African development needs. Improving conditions in Africa “does not require new commitments,” but rather that [UN member states] remember commitments already made, the President said, “it is time to move from promises to concrete action.” GA President d’Escoto Opening Remarks (2:44) - translation GA President d’Escoto on UN Promise to Africa (1:22) - translation Share This Less

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon highlights the accomplishments of the General Assembly, and urges to remember their commitments to the Millennium Development Goals. Listen to Audio File (8:16) - Full statement, some English and some English translation. Share This Less

Out-going president of the General Assembly, Mr. Srgjan Kerim - former Permanent Representative of the Republic of Macedonia - summarized his year in office. Mr. Kerkim specifically addressed the importance of inter-Assembly dialog (1:21), Security Council reform (0:25), and climate change (1:44). Share This Less

Today Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, held a press conference to mark the opening of the Symposium on Supporting Victims of Terrorism. He called the Symposium “a historic moment”, as it is the first time the UN has called together member states, civil society and victims of terror to discuss “practical and concrete solutions” for victims and their families. He remarked that it is “long overdue” that the UN is focusing on the needs of victims. Also speaking were four representatives of victims of terrorism: former president of CNN International Mr. Chris Cramer, Mr. Ashraf Al-Khaled, NGO Liaison Officer Ms. Laura Dolci-Kanaan, and former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. Mr. Cramer was held hostage for just over a day at the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980; he emphasised the need for “sensitivity” in the media toward the suffering of terror victims, and the need for “guidelines” on what behaviour is appropriate in pursuing a story. Mr. Al-Khaled, who lost twenty seven friends to terrorism when his wedding ceremony was bombed in November 2005, described terrorism as a “disease”, but one that could be defeated if the world provided a “united front”. Ms. Dolci-Kanaan’s husband was among the UN staff members who were killed in the 2003 terrorist attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad. She spoke of the need for terror victims to have “solidarity with fellow human beings.” She went on to remark that victims of terror have had their rights to life, freedom, health, truth and justice violated, ans asked for the international community to give these rights back to those who have suffered. Ms. Betancourt, a noted Colombian politician, was held hostage in the Colombian jungle for six years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) terrorist group. She stated that “we need to show the world that we are better than terrorism.” Share This Less

Bomb Iran or Regime Change: Former UN Ambassador John Bolton - Listen to Audio File (4:55) By Jack Rice for Talk Radio News Click To Play While Day One at the Republican National Convention seemed a little unstable, Day two seems to be back on course. During the afternoon, I saw a familiar face with the walrus mustache and knew that it was Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton. And while the focus seems to be on Sarah Palin’s daughter’s baby, I knew that Bolton would not be talking about that. Instead, I knew that the one topic that he is most passionate about is Iran. So, I asked a very opened ended question: Can you talk about recent development, pro or con, involving Iran? And Amb. Bolton was off. Essentially, Bolton described the failures of the UN Security Council and concluding that there were truly only two foreign policy options available to the U.S. at this point. The first option is regime change within the country. The second option was a series of strategic strikes. To make sure I heard what I thought I had, I repeated what he said – just to confirm. And, yes, that is what he meant. Bolton then stated that the Israelis may carry out the strikes. I asked about whether if this were the policy it would be better to do them ourselves as it would be perceived as an attack by proxy anyway. And, again, he agreed, believing that the U.S. should carry out the attacks. I then turned to the question of John McCain and whether John McCain would follow such advice. Bolton appeared confident that McCain seemed more willing to take the threat seriously and may act accordingly. Barack Obama, according to Bolton was unwilling to take the situation as seriously as it needed to be taken. Share This Less

Daily TIPs, Cybersecurity, greenhouse gases Neil Savage wrote: No Honor Among Internet Thieves Even phishers—people who fake legitimate-seeming sites to trick people out of their financial information—are subject to phishing attacks, according to the Wall Street Journal. Apparently more seasoned scam artists are targeting newbie hackers and stealing the same credit card numbers they steal. For instance, they’ll sell would-be criminals software to set up a fake bank website, and then get their own copy of all the information the website collects. Homeland Security Chief Talks of Cyber Threats Fearing online attacks that could compromise intelligence information or shut down utilities, the government is taking an increased interest in cybersecurity, head of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff says. Wired has a long and varied interview with Chertoff that also touches on the issue, currently percolating in the blogosphere, of border guards seizing laptops from travelers. Group Promotes Cybersecurity for Next President A private organization is looking for ways the government can make cyberspace more secure. The Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency, a group organized by a Washington think tank, is working on recommendations it can make to the next president. CNET News reports that four members of the commission discussed some of their work at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas this week. Ethanol Demand May Pose Health Risk In a somewhat round-about way, the increasing demand for ethanol from corn may be leading to an increased risk of lead poisoning in children, some researchers warn. An article in the American Chemical Society’s journal Environmental Science and Technology points out that ethanol demand, as well as increasing demands for food from emerging economies, are driving the demand for phosphates used in fertilizers. Those same phosphates are added to water supplies to prevent lead pipes from corroding, and a shortage could mean more of the metal in drinking water, where it can harm children’s cognitive development. California Company Captures Carbon for Concrete A California company, Calera, has developed a process in which it captures the carbon dioxide emitted by a natural-gas-burning power plant, pumps it through seawater, and produces the materials needed to make cement. Normally the process of making cement releases at least a ton of carbon dioxide for every ton of cement, but the company says it captures half a ton of C02 for each ton of cement it makes, according to Scientific American. Since cement and its sister material, concrete, are widely used in buildings all over the world, such a change could have a significant impact on global warming. UN Wants to Tighten Carbon Offset Rules The United Nations wants to make sure its system of trading carbon credits actually results in a reduction of the greenhouse gas. Under the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism, companies can buy the right to emit more carbon into the atmosphere by purchasing carbon offsets, which fund projects that reduce carbon emissions elsewhere. The International Herald Tribune reports that the UN wants to make sure any reductions are a direct result of the purchasing system, and aren’t just from projects that would have gone ahead without the incentive. Computer Giants Have Their Heads in the Cloud The current high-tech flavor of the month is cloud computing, in which applications and computing power run on remote machines that don’t necessarily belong to the user, saving time and expense. Technology Review tells us that Intel, Yahoo, and HP, along with research groups in Illinois, Germany, and Singapore, have formed a cloud computing initiative. The aim is to develop an Internet-based infrastructure that is stable enough to host companies’ more critical data processing tasks. IKEA to Offer Cleantech Products It’s not just bookcases and build-it-yourself credenzas for Swedish furniture store IKEA anymore. As the Cleantech Group reports, IKEA plans to invest in clean energy startups over the next five years to the tune of 50 million euros (about $77 million). Its goal is to eventually start selling cleantech technology, including smart meters and solar panels, in its stores. No word on whether solar panel installation requires more than that little wrench thingie. Daily TIPs (technology, innovation, policy) is produced in collaboration with Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Less

Daily TIPs, Internet, Plug-in Hybrids Neil Savage wrote: ISPs Should Not Control Net Traffic, FCC Hears Internet users don’t want broadband providers to slow down peer-to-peer traffic or track what users are doing online, people speaking at a public hearing in Pittsburgh told the Federal Communications Commission. PC World reports that speakers at the hearing want the FCC to take action against providers who block access to legal online applications, especially if they don’t notify their customers. And they don’t want providers doing deep packet inspection of their data to target advertising. Project Aims to Diagnose Genetic Role in Disease It’s easy to find out if you have genetic risk factors for certain diseases, but hard to know what to do with that information. To help clarify the situation, the National Human Genome Research Institute is sponsoring a $31 million project to study just how much certain genes increase the risk of a disease. Technology Review reports that doctors with such information could make better recommendations about who should have follow-up tests for cancer, for example. UN Soil Map Tracks Food and Carbon A new database of soils around the world, created by the United Nations, can help track both agricultural output and carbon storage, the UN claims. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization is also producing a Global Carbon Gap Map, according to Reuters. The map will show degraded soils where billions of tons of carbon dioxide could be stored. Company Plans Stations to Recharge Plug-in Autos If drivers plan to be zipping around the nation in plug-in hybrid automobiles, they’re going to need someplace to actually plug them in. Coulomb Technologies, of Campbell, CA, will test its charging stations in San Jose, CA, according to CNET News. The stations will consist of 110-volt outlets that can be mounted on streetlight poles. Utilities Get Ready to Handle Plug-ins With all those plug-in hybrids expected to be recharging their batteries in the coming years, the power grid will need to be able to handle it. So the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory is working with a company to test a fast charger for cars and see how compatible it is with the grid, says Greentech Media. Meanwhile, San Francisco is soliciting bids for projects to make the city ready for plug-ins. Wind Power May be Too Much for Northwest Utilities are getting ready to more than quadruple the amount of power they produce from wind in the Northwest part of the country, according to the Oregonian. The paper warns that the power transmission network in the area isn’t ready for that much input. Right now, it says, the grid can handle only about a third of the 4,716 megawatts expected to be produced by wind turbines. Gore Wants Bloggers to Promote Energy Challenge Al Gore may not have invented the Internet, but he intends to use it to promote his fight against global warming. Speaking at the Netroots Nation conference in Texas, Gore urged bloggers to help promote his recently announced goal of switching electricity in the U.S. to 100 percent renewable energy within the next 10 years, the New York Times reports. Daily TIPs (technology, innovation, policy) is produced in collaboration with Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Less