NOTE TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (through Ms. Malcorra) . DPI Weekly Press Review This week's press review focuses on Iraq as the country's authorities struggle to respond to the threat posed by ISIL, and South Sudan, where preliminary findings on the cause of the recent crash of a United Nations aircraft and China's decision to send troops to serve in the UN peacekeeping force sparked substantial media interest. j : ISIL remained the focus of global media attention after United States President Barack Obama announced plans to form an international coalition to attack the group. The decision, and the absence of Security Council support for the move, drew inevitable comparisons to events in Iraq in 2003. Ahead of the General Assembly high-level period, any comments you make on this issue will be scrutinized closely by commentators. As the Ebola outbreak continues unabated, so does the press coverage, including reporting on the spread of the disease, its impact on communities in West Africa, and efforts to find a vaccine. Many editorials and commentaries have focused on the perceived passive or ineffective response ofthe international community. By contrast, today's announcement that Cuba is dispatching doctors to affected countries - and your reaction to the news - drew plenty of positive coverage. The Department of Public Information is working with the Ebola crisis centre headed by ASG Tony Banbury, the office of Dr. David Nabarro and the World Health Organization to identify and provide the necessary strategic and operational communications support for the duration of the crisis. Ebola continued to generate widespread interest on UN social media accounts this week, as did the release of Fijian peacekeepers in the Golan. Your mid-week appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart also created buzz, particularly the gift of the blue helmet and your comment about the future being in the hands of young people. Thank you. ~~/~.I . ~~~ ~/-- Maher Nasser Acting Head ' artment ofPublic Information 12 September 2014 t') :- r • r 1' ( 1... , ;••-·._ - ~ t ' . ~~ r:~ II '· t '_', cc: The Deputy Secretary-General / Mr. Amdur I Ms. Amos I Mr. Dujarric I Mr. Feltman I Ms. aq I Mr. Kim I Mr. Ladsous I Mr. Orr ( - r -· ·. · . ·.-... ... -.:;; : .. ·.·.·----· RECEIV.ED SEP 1 5 7014 NOTE TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ;;L (through Ms. Malcorra) /4--o <f 5 g IDCf.t'UT:l\"E 017FICB OPTHE SECRE1J\i<Y-GENERAL / DPI Weekly Press Review This week's press review focuses on Iraq as the country's authorities struggle to respond to the threat posed by ISJL, and South Sudan, where preliminary findings on the cause of the recent crash of a United Nations aircraft and China's decision to send troops to serve in the UN peacekeeping force sparked substantial media interest. ISIL remained the focus of global media attention after United States President Barack Obama announced plans to form an international coalition to attack the group. The decision, and the absence of Security Council support for the move, drew inevitable comparisons to events in Iraq in 2003. Ahead of the General Assembly high-level period, any comments you make on this issue will be scrutinized closely by commentators. As the Ebola outbreak continues unabated, so does the press coverage, including reporting on the spread of the disease, its impact on communities in West Africa, and efforts to find a vaccine. Many editorials and commentaries have focused on the perceived passive or ineffective response of the international community. By contrast, today's announcement that Cuba is dispatching doctors to affected countries - and your reaction to the news - drew plenty of positive coverage. The Department of Public Infonnation is working with the Ebola crisis centre headed by ASG Tony Banbury, the office of Dr. David Nabarro and the World Health Organization to identify and provide the necessary strategic and operational communications support for the duration of the crisis. Ebola continued to generate widespread interest on UN social media accounts this week, as did the release of Fijian peacekeepers in the Golan. Your mid-week appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart also created buzz, particularly the gift of the blue helmet and your comment about the future being in the hands of young people. Thank you. ~-:;;.---~-/--~~4- Maher Nasser Acting Head ' artment ofPublic Information 12 September 2014 RECEIVED cc: The Deputy Secretary-General I Mr. Amdur I Ms . Amos f Mr. Dujarric I Mr. Feltm I Ms. Haq I Mr. Kim I Mr. Ladsous I Mr. Orr SEP 1 9 /Gi4 ...... ·. .. ·. ·. ·. ·. ·.. -: · .· -. ·::>~:~:.::.· IRAQ This week the media focused on the stmggle to form a broad-based government united against ISIL, as press speculation mounted on the intemational response to dealing with the spread of terror encompassing Iraq and Syria. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's comments, along with those by the newly appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad AI Hussein, sparked considerable coverage. The tenor of commentary was mixed, with some seeing the unity government as the answer to the crisis while others were more pessimistic. · Government with empty seats Ban's welcoming of the new Iraqi Govenllhent as a "positive step" towards political stability and regional peace prompted a rotmd of headlines, from "UN chief Ban Ki- moon hails new govemment in Iraq" (India's IANS news agency) to "UN's Ban Ki-moon Welcomes New Iraqi Government, Urges It to Fill Two Key Posts" (Ria Novosti of Moscow). AFP reiterated the Secretary-General's call to all Iraqi political leaders to "build on the cmrent momentum of collaboration." Other media gave prominence to Ban's appeal to fill vacant ministerial posts. Voice of Russia, Le Monde and Algerian · daily L'Expression repmted that with several key secmity posts empty, Ban had urged politicians to ~_ : quicldy choose new defence and interior ministers "without delay." Under the headline "UN call for all-embracing govemment fonnation in Iraq," London-based pan~Arab newspaper AI-Hayat repmted that UN representative Nickolay Mladenov stressed "the impmtance of creating an inclusive govenunent to overcome the cunent challenges and find a solution for the crisis." Kuwaiti news agency KUNA detailed a round of phone diplomacy, citing a call from US President Barack Oban1a to Ban, in which both "agreed on the need for a broad coalition to counter the threat posed by ISIL and to continue humanitarian assistance to civilians." As French President Franc;ois Hollande arrived in Iraq on Friday, France 24 was one of several outlets flagging that he was there to provide support to the fledgling government. The report stated that Hollande, whose plane carried humanitarian supplies for the north, was the "first visit by a head of State since jihadists overran large parts of the cotmtry three months ago." An atticle by RIA Novosti noted that, according to Baghdad's Shafaq News Radio, in a phone conversation with the UN chief, the new Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi stressed the importance of the UN's support in many areas, including in contributing to "the creation of an international position supporting him in his war against terrorist organizations." CNN shared Abadi's remarks: "What's happening in Syria is coming across to Iraq ... We cannot cross that border. It is an international border, but there is a role for the international community for the United Nations to do that." Meanwhile, as the Secmity Council tackled the issue of foreign extremist fighters, several outlets pinpointed an emerging consensus on requiring countries to make the recruitment of imp01ted jihadists a criminal offence tmder their domestic laws. While Reuters reported that diplomats anonymously said the Council was likely to reach agreement on a resolution, AFP elaborated that it was expected to be adopted at a special session chaired by Oban1a on 24 September. In ITAR-TASS, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churk'in said "the resolution aims to enable the international community to fight with [international tenorist fighters] even better." The Irish Independent typified the tenor of the coverage under the headline "UN makes bid to stop jihadis from travelling abroad." ·=-~·"-··~· -·-~·- .. ·~·~-.-~.~··=·-·=·~~-~-·--·~· .... ~"~==--"·---=····= . ·- .. - ···- . ··-···· ........ - . .. ···-·~-~~-=~"·"·=·'"~"'·"'""-"~·~-··=·=····"'''""~·.. -·~· ··- "'"""'~··-·l· I' . ·· The new power-sharing govenunent triggered voluminous commentary that ranged from cautiously il optimistic to gloomy - with many weighing in with advice to Baghdad. In a Daily Telegraph (UK) IJ analysis, Shashank Joshi made the case that "the new Iraqi Government can kick-start the real campaign II against ISIL," including by "appointing reforn1ist figures that command respect from Smmis and j Kmds." An editorial in The New York Times describes how Abadi "has his work cut out for him," !l mentioning Sunni grievances, Kurdish complaints and the dangers of "the resumption of political li infighting." Similarly, a Boston Globe editorial maintained: "Abadi will have to be a political genius to I form a successful central government in Baghdad while being held hostage to so many opposing i! interests." In Time, Saif Al-Azzawi reckoned: "I despised Saddam, but I don't think an extremist group like the Islamic State would exist under his rule ... I see a civil war coming, and an Iraq divided into states." In Forbes, Doug Bandow commented that it was not easy to resolve a regional conflict by intervening in one small pat1 of Iraq; what was needed were