Adding this to the List of Reasons I Will Not Be Buying a Diamond

The Kimberley Process certification scheme, which aims to stop the use of diamonds to fund conflict, is failing, according to a campaign group. Global Witness pointed to the smuggling of diamonds from Ivory Coast and an alleged massacre of diamond diggers by the military in Zimbabwe last year. The rights group, which lobbied to set up the scheme in 2003, says it is not being adequately enforced.

More at: BBC News Africa

UN Slams Israel Over Beit Hanun Shelling

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/789457.html

The UN General Assembly on Friday night overwhelmingly passed a
resolution condemning the errant shelling of a Beit Hanun house which
killed some 20 Palestinians.

Representatives of 156 countries voted in favor of the resolution. . .

Voting "no" were the United States, Israel, Australia, the Marshall
Islands, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau. Abstaining were Canada, Ivory
Coast, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The draft also includes a clause urging UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan to dispatch a "working investigative team" to Beit Hanun to
conduct an inquiry into the shelling. American media reported former
United States president Jimmy Carter is set to lead the team.