African Union force OK’d for Somalia

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize an African Union force to help stabilize Somalia, setting the stage for U.N. peacekeepers to take over the long-term job of bringing peace to the Horn of Africa nation.

The resolution adopted by the council urges the 53 African nations to contribute troops to the 8,000-strong force and urges other U.N. member states to provide financial support and any needed personnel, equipment and services.

The measure gives the AU force international legitimacy. Most African countries will not deploy troops in any peacekeeping mission without such authorization.

“For the first time in 15 years, the Somali people have a prospect of being governed by representative institutions that will provide them with security and stability,” said Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, the main sponsor of the resolution.

Ottawa, Canada

Gates, Canada join to fight AIDS

The Canadian government and Bill Gates announced an initiative Tuesday to establish a research institute to develop an AIDS vaccine, committing a total of $119 million to the project.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his government has pledged $95.3 million to a new fund called the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative, while the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has promised as much as $24 million.

Gates’ $33 billion foundation has become a world leader in fighting AIDS and other epidemic diseases as well as extreme poverty, particularly in the developing world.

Jerusalem

Israel rejects talks with coalition

Israel on Tuesday ruled out holding Mideast peace talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas once he forms a coalition with Hamas militants, saying the new unity government must give in to international demands to recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Hoping to find a way to persuade Hamas to moderate its hardline position, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought the advice of Arab security chiefs in Jordan on how to proceed, Arab officials said.

The unity government deal between the Islamic Hamas and Abbas’ more moderate Fatah Party fell far short of the conditions set for restoring desperately needed foreign aid to the Palestinians, according to Israel and the United States.

Discussion of the government overshadowed talks Monday between Rice, Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that were initially billed as the beginning of a new peace push.

Rice and Abbas met separately in Amman on Tuesday with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, and Abbas said after the meeting that the summit Monday had been “tense and difficult” but said “it was not a failure, and it will be followed by other meetings.”