NY Times—Over Zimbabwe Objections, Annan and Carter Plan Visit
The former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan and former President Jimmy Carter are going to Zimbabwe on a humanitarian mission this weekend despite a front-page story on Thursday in The Herald newspaper — President Robert Mugabe’s mouthpiece — saying that the government of Zimbabwe has advised them not to come. In a statement issued Thursday, Annan said that he, Carter and Graça Machel, a women’s advocate and the wife of Nelson Mandela, intended to get a firsthand sense of the economic crisis in the country and to assess the help it needs.

AFP—World’s poorest nations call for more aid amid global financial woes
The world’s poorest countries on Thursday called on rich nations to continue giving aid and help fight global disease despite the global financial crisis. The appeal from trade ministers and representatives from nearly 50 Least Developed Countries ended two days of talks in Cambodia to discuss trade and the credit crunch.

AP—African nations ranked for ‘child friendliness’
Some poor countries have scored well compared to richer ones in a report assessing the treatment of children in African nations. The African Child Policy Forum, an independent advocacy agency, ranked 52 countries in a “child-friendly index”. Amongst the top 10 were Namibia and Malawi, which did far better than richer countries like Sudan and Angola. “Governments that have come out well on this index did so because they have done two things — they have put in place the relevant laws to protect children from abuse and exploitation, and they have targeted resources at the basic needs of children,” said an advisor for the group.

AFP—Africa, Europe ’seeking to harmonise climate-change demands’
Africa seeks a common position with the European Union going into climate-change negotiations next year, Algeria’s environment minister said Thursday. Environment ministers from almost all of Africa’s 53 nations agreed to assume a united front Wednesday to take into December 2009 talks in Copenhagen on replacing the Kyoto Protocol, covering efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

-Steve Wilson