Who will watch the watchmen?
The professional and moral conduct of UN peacekeepers is becoming as large a concern as their safety. A study by aid agency Save the Children showed that more than half the children it surveyed reported incidents of sexual abuse by blue-helmets in countries like Sudan, Haiti and Cote d’Ivoire. Since peacekeepers can only truly be disciplined by their native countries, few of last year’s 748 allegations of misconduct, of which 127 involve sexual exploitation, will ever be brought to light. (The Economist, 05/29/08)

Mugabe on thin ice in the international community
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s appearance at the world food summit in Rome incited several harsh remarks this week (The Guardian, 06/03/08). Little was done to stop his appearance there, however. Even U.S. President George Bush has gone on record and called the dictator’s actions of late against his own people deplorable (UPI, 06/02/08). Police in Zimbabwe arrested opposition leader Arthur Mutambara of one of the Movement for Democratic Change’s (MDC) splinter groups this week (Al Jazeera, 06/02/08), adding to dozens that Mugabe has had imprisoned. The masses are feeling Mugabe’s grip as well – this week began the forced repatriation of Zimbabweans who fled the country due to the recent socioeconomic climate there (The Times, 06/02/08), courtesy of the South African government.

US, East African gunrunners violating UN’s Somalia arms ban
The United States government has joined the ranks of groups of Ugandans and Kenyans in violating the U.N. ban on arms trading with Somalia, according to an internal monitoring group. Ugandan officers have been accused of selling back to militants the very guns that were seized from them in the first place. Ethiopia, Eritrea and Yemen are also being accused of doing the same. (The East African, 06/02/08)

Critics target U.S. military command
The U.S. is having a tough time defending its AFRICOM initiative that is to organize military actions in the continent. Critics have especially accused the organization of being a “defense above diplomacy” initiative. For an institution that was originally meant to combine military organization with humanitarian efforts, it has planned to do little of the latter. Securing resources and checking China’s progress in the region seem to be most important aims, along with fighting terrorism. (IPS News, 06/02/08)

UN delays Darfur security meeting
With the situation in southern Sudan consistently deteriorating, UN mediators have been forced to delay a monumental meeting when the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) rebel groups refused to attend. UN envoy to Darfur Jan Elaisson said that though the UN regretted the act, it would attempt to continue discussions with the two groups. (Yahoo! News, 06/02/08)

We Are Not Animals, Say Foreign Workers
Public, occasionally violent, demonstrations are breaking out among foreign workers in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) in Mauritius. Low wages and poor work conditions are the cause, and workers are not going to stand by any longer as local workers continue to enjoy standardized wages and controlled work conditions. So far the government has reacted only by deporting the ringleaders of each demonstration. (IPS via Alternet, 06/02/08)

U.S. accused of holding terror suspects on prison ships
The U.S. has been using ships as floating prisons to hold prisoners of war, according to human rights group Reprieve. As many as 17 ships have been used in this initiative, with 200 new prisoners having been taken on board after U.S. President George Bush declared in 2006 that the practice had been halted. A full analysis of the situation is to be published this year. (The Guardian, 05/02/08)

To be political in Israel
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be continuing to predict Israel’s disappearing off the map (Reuters, 06/03/08), but all signs point to a good week for the country. Hezbollah handed over the purported remains of Israeli soldiers killed during the 2006 war in Lebanon this week, setting the mood for a hopeful prisoner swap in the future (The New York Times, 06/02/08). Momentum is building towards the next round of peace talks, brokered by Washington (Al Jazeera, 06/02/08). Israel’s recent decision to build more settlements will most likely dominate any negotiations (Reuters, 06/02/08). Israeli President Ehud Olmert has gone ahead and declared that, in spite of any pressure to do otherwise, he will make sure that Jerusalem will stay Israeli forever (Al Arabiya, 06/02/08). President Olmert may not have the time or energy to guard Jerusalem as he once did, what with the sheer number of corruption allegations against him that threaten to unseat him before the month is out (The Economist, 05/29/08).

Suicide blast targets Mosul police
A car suicide bombing that targeted a police patrol in Mosul led to the deaths of at least 10 and the wounding of 45. An earlier separate attack killed a university professor as he drove home from work. (Al Jazeera, 06/02/08)

Women plead with al-Qaeda to join jihad: report
Fundamentalist women have been asking to join al Qaeda, as the organization continues to refuse doing so. Remarks from second in command Ayman al-Zawahiri that women were limited to caring for the homes and progeny of al Qaeda fighters led to a number of heated responses on Internet discussion boards, with several women declaring their want to join the cause. (Al Arabiya, 06/02/08)

Iran and Syria sign missile pact
Just as the U.S. and Turkey signed a missile pact to cooperate on the peaceful use of nuclear technology (UPI, 06/02/08), Iran and Syria agreed to collaborate on setting up their missile command systems. Syria’s missile units are to be coordinated fully with Tehran, according to the agreement. This event occurred just as Syria welcomed U.N. nuclear inspectors into the state for the first time (The New York Times, 06/03/08). (UPI, 06/02/08)

Iranian women’s rights activist sentenced
Amir Yaghoub Ali says that he is the first to be convicted for attempting to change Iranian laws that discriminate against women. Acting on behalf of the Change for Equality campaign, Ali was attempting to collect signatures to challenge laws that discriminate against women. Though women activists had also been sentenced to various terms and forms of punishment, none of the terms had been carried out. (Yahoo! News, 06/02/08)

Conservatives win Macedonia vote, EU rues violence The VMRO-DPMNE party of of Prime Minister Nikola Grueveski won a large election victory this week, riding the continuing wave of nationalism following Macedonia’s failure to join NATO after it was blocked by Greece. Elections monitors have criticized widespread violence in ethnic Albanian areas during the elections, as well as the failure of the government to prevent such acts. (Reuters, 06/02/08)

Putin’s opponents are made to vanish from TV
Amongst broadcasters in Russia there exists a Stop List – a collection of names whose owners are by Kremlin decree not allowed on television news and talk shows. Opponents and critics of the current regime almost entirely disappeared from television, just ahead of the elections. Politicians and pundits are not the only names on the list – rock group Televizor had its booking on a St. Petersburg show canceled after they took part in a demonstration. (International Herald Tribune, 06/02/08)

Afghan children paying family debts
With poverty growing in the regions, children as young as the age of four are being made to work at brick factories when their parents owe debts to the owners. With an entire family earning as little as U.S. $6 a day, they easily accrue debt with wealthy factory owners, and then have to work it off. (Al Jazeera, 06/02/08)

Musharraf hesitates after Danish embassy blast
A bomb blast this week outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad killed at least six people (AP, 06/02/08). Police are investigating the attack (Al Jazeera, 06/03/08), though fingers are already pointing at the Taliban after an al Qaeda leader went on air before the act, urging people to attack Danes for publishing cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad (Yahoo! News, 06/03/08). The blast may have even been planned in order to embarrass the Pakistani government (The Times of India, 06/03/08), along with Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud’s news conference after a massive attack on his group’s Waziristan stronghold by Pakistani forces (The New York Times, 06/02/08). The plan seems to have worked, with President Pervez Musharraf taking a good part of the blame along with all the accusations of turning the country into his private dictatorship. Opposition parties this week declared that the president had to either leave the country of face prosecution for all his unconstitutional actions from the past (The Times of India, 06/02/08).

Goodbye to all that
Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Prachanda, had many backers in the Parliament when he proposed the dethroning of the unsympathetic Nepalese monarch King Gyanendra. He may not garner the same support as he prepares to propose the fate of the new republic. Parties in the south want regional autonomy, averse to Pranchanda’s plans. 23,000 Maoist rebels want to be merged with a reluctant 90,000-strong army. Socioeconomic reform will be another battle altogether. (The Economist, 05/29/08)

Tamil Tigers place senior leader under house arrest: military
Air strikes by Sri Lankan armed forces seem to be the least of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s (LTTE) problems. Internal conflict is quickly reaching its boiling point, with peace secretariat member Seevaratnam Prabharan being put under house arrest this week on the orders of leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. The body count continues into the thousands as the LTTE pushes on in its struggle to carve out a homeland for minority Tamils amongst the majority Sinhalese. (Yahoo! News, 06/02/08)

South Korea says won’t import beef from older US cattle
After several days of protests, South Korea’s President Lee Myung-Bak has finally announced that his country will not export beef from the U.S. that is more than 30 months old because of rising fears of Mad Cow Disease. The initiative will stay in effect until the government implements a large test of U.S. beef. (Yahoo! News, 06/03/08)

China urged to free Tiananmen-era prisoners
Human rights group Human Rights Watch asked China to improve its human rights record by freeing 130 prisoners who are still incarcered to this day. The call was made on the eve of the 19th anniversary of the crushing of student-led Tiananmen demonstrations by Chinese government forces. (Reuters, 06/03/08)

Protests Shake a Divided Thailand
In a protest resembling one that took place two years ago, thousands demonstrated in Bangkok this week against governmental policies and the presence of former prime minister Thakshin Shinawatra on the political scene. The crowd wanted Shinawatra put on trial for corruption, and for the monarchy to be defended against the onslaught of parliamentary regulation. The protesters insisted that the last round of elections that ended military rule were a farce, and voiced readiness to overthrow those in power. (The New York Times, 06/03/08)

Risky pipedreams for East Timor
Just one paycheck later, East Timor looks to be heavily reliant on natural gas and light crude oil sales. Over-optimism and a growing number of oil companies looking to take advantage of the world’s newest oil field may lead to more trouble than benefits. (Asia Times Online, 05/31/08)

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For more from GNN’s exclusive columnists, read Nathan Coe’s Labor News Roundup.