Who to cheer for when the football doesn't matter, does journalism promote war, give the peace-makers a chance in the limelight

If we're not careful we do-gooders will squeeze the fun out of anything. Having issued that disclaimer, I have to say I really like Gary Younge's take on the soccer World Cup. The Guardian journalist is writing a column entitled Who to Cheer for When the Football Doesn't Matter, where in just a few sentences he weighs the merits of two countries who'll be up against each other on the pitch. For today's teams - South Korea v Togo - he concludes that ethically minded fans should probably back Togo.

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Journalists are always hardest on other journalists. And if you're in London tonight you may get to witness this phenomenon first-hand. The Frontline Club, a private organisation that promotes independent journalism and holds lots of interesting events, is holding a debate on whether "peace journalism" is really journalism.

In one corner will be Jake Lynch, a proponent of peace journalism, an approach he says allows editors and reporters to make choices on what stories to cover and how to cover wars without perpetuating them. He's got a website about his way of thinking and how to buy the book.

In the other corner will be David Loyn, the BBC's developing world correspondent who used to a defence correspondent. Loyn has described peace journalism as "one of the most destructive of emerging journalistic trends".

I can already hear the "swish- swish" of knifes being sharpened ...

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While we're on the subject of war and peace, here's some beach reading for folks out there - Kings of Peace, Pawns of War: The Untold Story of Peace- Making, about conflict mediators, is coming out on June 18.

Mediators don't get much cred in the public imagination but perhaps they should.

"This powerful book exposes the murky reality behind the struggle to end war as it follows the race against time for six top international peace-brokers trying to end some of the world's most intractable conflicts," say the publisers.

The people depicted have been involved in trying to pacify Sri Lanka, South Sudan, Iraq and post- tsunami Aceh, among others. We make movies and write books about people who make war, why not apply the same glam-o-meter to those who try to end it?

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Here's why celebrities getting involved in publicising humanitarian causes is a good thing - news of Mia Farrow's trip to Sudan's western Darfur region on behalf of U.N. children's fund UNICEF has turned up in all sorts of places, like FOXNEWS.com and The Arizona Republic.

Along with fellow American actress Angelina Jolie, goodwill ambassador Farrow attracts media attention like few others. This is probably good news for Darfur, which the United Nations has described as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The conflict has displaced around two million people, as government troops and Arab militias rape, set fire to villages, loot and kill. And to make matters even worse, agencies often face funding shortfalls.

Just in from the region, armed men attacked UNHCR offices in west Darfur last night, according to the U.N. refugee agency. No staff were hurt although a guard was wounded, it says.

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The government of Afghanistan is thinking of (re?)arming private militias in the south of the country to help deal with escalating violence. This is raising lots of eyebrows, to say the least.

President Hamid Karzai is quoted as saying that his government wants to strengthen districts against terrorist attacks. A lot of observers say this year's violence is the most serious bout since the Taliban was toppled in 2001.

The Financial Times says this would be a catastrophic mistake, pointing out that the country has just recently emerged from a large-scale disarmament process. The move, the FT says, only underscores Kabul's powerlessness and would look like foreigners had joined up with drugs traffickers, a PR blessing for the Taliban.

Afghanistan is struggling to emerge from more than two decades of violence and isolation. Billions have poured in to help rebuild the country, but many Afghans are growing tired of waiting for their lot to improve. Meanwhile, the violence is on the up and the government and contractors face allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

Resentment and violence is not restricted to the south and southeast of the country. Here's a nice piece by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting about violence in the capital Kabul. The story looks at the roots of people's dissatisfaction, and concludes that Afghans are growing impatient with the pace of reconstruction and thousands of foreign troops.

According to the story, many are also suspicious of official U.S. explanations of a crash between a coalition truck and up to 12 Afghan passenger vehicles that sparked riots in the city in late May.

"(The riots) opened the door for people to show their resentment towards the government," the story quotes an Afghan. "Many people are unemployed, many have been sacked from the government or have gone through the disarmament process."

That's all from me for now.

F. Brinley Bruton