UN peacekeeping review won't see field firsthand

Source: Associated Press

United Nations, 20 November 2014 - The Nobel Peace Prize winner who will lead the first major review of United Nations peacekeeping operations in 15 years says his panel will do it from afar.

In a closed-door meeting Thursday of the Security Council, apparently inadvertently broadcast on the U.N.'s internal television system, Jose Ramos-Horta said panel members have been in the field before and don't need to go. He said he would be reluctant to impose on force commanders and will opt to speak via videoconference instead.

The sweeping U.N. review comes as the world body faces its most challenging climate ever for peacekeeping, with a record 130,000 people deployed around the world. The threat of terrorist violence is increasing, and pressure to protect civilians grows.

The panel has less than a year to make recommendations.

DR Congo rethinks fiddling with constitution after Burkina revolt

Source: AFP World News

Kinshasa, 20 November 2014 - Politicians in the Democratic Republic of Congo keen to prolong President Joseph Kabila's hold on power are revising their plans after Burkina Faso's leader was deposed by a popular uprising, analysts said.

"That changed things, coming like a thunderbolt, a real warning signal for those in power," said a foreign diplomat in Kinshasa, the capital of the vast central African country.

Kabila supporters have instead begun to seek ways to delay the presidential election due to be held by November 2016, diplomats said.

The DRC is one of a handful of African nations whose leaders are consi