As European population ages, UN body suggests ways to enhance senior lives

The number of elderly people in Europe is on the rise and responding to their changing needs is one of the biggest challenges that governments have to face this century, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) said today.

Michigan Appeal for Emergency Action: Call Gov. Granholm to Demand aMoratorium on Utility Shut-offs

Appeal for Emergency Action

Call Gov. Granholm at 517-373-3400

Action: Moratorium NOW! Coalition Wants Winter Halt to Utility Shut-offs–Group Writes Letter to Gov. Granholm to Impose Moratorium
Contact: Abayomi Azikiwe, 313.671.3715
Address: 5920 Second Avenue, Detroit MI, 48202
URL: http://moratorium-mi.org

Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions & Utility
Shut-offs Calls for Winter Halt to Heating, Electrical and Water
Service Terminations

A recent meeting of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition decided to appeal to Gov. Jennifer Granholm to impose an immediate halt to utility shut-offs in Detroit and throughout the state.

The letter reads in part as follows:

“At our last meeting on Wednesday, November 18, we held extensive
discussions on the economic conditions prevailing in Detroit and
throughout the state. The unemployment rate in Michigan, over 15
percent, is still above what exist in other states around the country.
Despite efforts to stem the tide of rising unemployment, the overall
net job losses remain far too large.

“As a result of high unemployment and underemployment, Michigan’s, and particularly Detroit’s, foreclosure and eviction rates along with utility shut-offs, are astronomical. In a meeting last summer with executives at DTE Energy, we were informed that over 150,000 of the company’s customers have had their services disconnected during the last year.”

The Moratorium NOW! Coalition letter to Gov. Granholm continues by saying that:

“Therefore, we are requesting that you utilize your political and
legal authority to impose a moratorium on utility shut-offs beginning
before the Thanksgiving holiday and extening until at least May 1.

“With Winter approaching absent of a moratorium on utility shut-offs,
hundreds of thousands of people around the state risk imminent danger that could result in serious injury, sickness and even death. We only need to remind ourselves of the deaths that occured last year as a result of utility shut-offs. In July the Reed-Owens family of
northwest Detroit lost four members after their power was shut-off by
DTE Energy.”

The Moratorium NOW! Coalition is a community-based organization that was formed during the early months of 2008. Since its formation the organization has worked tirelessly to win a moratorium on home
foreclosures, evictions and utility shut-offs in the state of
Michigan.

This group intends to pursue the demand for a declaration of economic emergency in Michigan through public meetings, demonstrations and other actions aimed at organizing people who are the most severely affected by the current economic crisis.

Please call Gov. Granholm to demand the imposition of a Moratorium on utility shut-offs immediately. Her number is (517) 373-3400.

To contact the Moratorium NOW! Coalition just reach out to us on the
numbers listed above.

Abayomi Azikiwe
Moratorium NOW! Coalition
Media Liaison
313.671.3715

Ban welcomes appointment of new European leaders

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced the hope for increased cooperation between the European Union and the United Nations following the appointment of Herman van Rompuy as the first EU President and Catherine Ashton as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Hacker breaks into climate change research institution

A hacker has broken into the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit and posted over 1000 highly confidential emails online, says Shanta Barley

Today on New Scientist: 20 November 2009

Today’s stories on newscientist.com, at a glance, including: the rise of the tiny medibots, the colliders that will follow the LHC, and an interview with Belle de Jour

Unprecedented low turnout

Some light relief for Friday evening from Swedish blogger Johan Norberg:
http://www.johannorberg.net/?page=displayblog&month=11&year=2009#3391

Palestinian children mark 20th year of UN rights treaty with video testimony

Tens of thousands of Palestinian refugee children in United Nations schools in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria have been clicking away with flip cams to create the region’s first ever online video yearbook to mark the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Kenyan youth shoot for peace in UN-backed football ‘reconciliation contest’

More than 2,000 Kenyan youths from across Nairobi, the capital, will kick off a multi-ethnic football tournament this weekend to score goals in a United Nations-backed bid to use the power of sport to promote reconciliation after last year’s deadly inter-communal violence as well as environmental conservation.

Xenophobic attacks in South Africa draw condemnation from UN agency

The United Nations refugee agency today condemned the latest xenophobic attacks that have driven some 3,000 foreigners, including refugees and asylum-seekers from Zimbabwe, from a community in South Africa.

India’s all-female UN police unit serves as inspiration for Liberian women

Liberian girls and women should draw inspiration from the all-female Indian police unit serving with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) to join law enforcement agencies in the service of their own nation, the top UN official in the West African country said today.