Social media fills communication gap in Haiti

Source: BBC

The collapse of traditional channels of communication in Haiti has again highlighted the role of social media and the internet in disasters.

Twitter is being used as a prime channel for communications, while sites such as Ushahidi are providing maps detailing aid and damage. Both Google and Facebook are producing missing persons lists. Satellite networks are also diverting resources to provide communications to aid agencies and the military.

Barack Obama’s Nobel lecture

Backgrounder: U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

Today began the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The United Nations Office in Washington DC has prepared a background note to understand what the conference is and its importance in the negotiations towards a new international treaty to fight global warming.

United Nations appoints new spokesman

Source: Reuters | By Patrick Worsnip

It’s not uncommon for journalists at some point in their careers to cross the barricades and become the people who dish out the news as spokespersons for an organization or firm, rather than being on the receiving end. It requires a different set of skills that can make the transition tough, and a stern test confronts former Reuters correspondent Martin Nesirky, who has just been appointed spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. After a high-flying career at Reuters that saw him fill senior editorial positions in London, Berlin, Moscow and Seoul, Nesirky has had some time to acclimatize to his new role by working for more than three years as spokesman for the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), based in Vienna. But the move to New York brings much more formidable challenges.

The search for the next EU President

Source: BBC News

The executive search for the two top European jobs is proving difficult. There has been a first and inconclusive round of phone calls. There are more potential candidates than jobs. And just beneath the surface are fierce currents and rivalries. There could well be public disputes before the names are chosen at dinner in Brussels a week on Thursday.

Climate change: UN Chief in Washington to lobby US Congress

Source: United Nations

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the United States to take a leading role in forging a new international pact to combat global warming, warning that the consequences of failure outweigh the cost of tackling climate change.

The next EU President after Lisbon

Source: BBC News

The European Union is close to deciding who will be appointed to a new post of president to chair EU summits and represent the bloc on the world stage. The way was cleared by the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty by the Czech Republic. Speculation is already mounting about potential candidates.

UN chief damps climate treaty hopes

Source: Financial Times | By Ed Crooks

A new international climate change treaty is very unlikely to be signed at the Copenhagen talks next month, Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, signalled on Tuesday, saying people had to be “realistic” about what could be achieved.

He said he hoped for a “very strong binding political commitment” that could be turned into a treaty in the first half of next year.