United Nations

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Palestinians to Buck US, Seek Statehood

They hope it'll strengthen negotiating position with Israel

(Newser) - Barring some kind of last-minute diplomatic magic trick, Mahmoud Abbas will ask the UN Security Council for membership next week, the Palestinian foreign minister said today—even as US diplomats traveled to the West Bank for last-ditch negotiating efforts. “We will see if anyone carries … any credible offer,...

Family Tells UN: We Own Machu Picchu

Asks UN agency to consider their case

(Newser) - Talk about a property dispute: A Peruvian family says it owns the land of the Machu Picchu ruins, and is taking the case to the United Nations. Seventy-year-old Edgar Echegaray Abril still has the sale deed showing that his family bought the land with gold in 1910. Yes, they sold...

UN Court Convicts Serb General for Balkan Atrocities

Momcilo Perisic gave military aid to Bosnian Serbs behind massacre: court

(Newser) - The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal sentenced the former chief of the Yugoslav army to 27 years in prison today for providing crucial military aid to Bosnian Serb forces responsible for the Srebrenica massacre, as well as a deadly four-year campaign of shelling and sniping in Sarajevo. The case against Gen....

US Asks Palestinians to Delay Vote on Statehood

But with large majority support, little Palestinian interest in waiting

(Newser) - With a UN vote looming on recognizing a Palestinian state on Sept. 20, the White House has started a last-minute diplomatic campaign to get the Palestinians to give up their attempt at statehood for more peace talks, reports the New York Times . Although the United States can veto a request...

WikiLeaks: UN Peacekeepers Demanded Sex for Food

Beninese booted from Ivory Coast for violations with underage girls

(Newser) - UN peacekeepers routinely pressured underage girls for sex in exchange for food and shelter in the Ivory Coast, according to explosive new information uncovered in a US Embassy cable released by WikiLeaks. Eight of 10 underage girls polled in 2009 "said they had ongoing sexual relationships with Beninese soldiers...

Car Bomb Rocks UN Building in Nigeria; 7 Dead

'We believe there are many casualties,' says a UN official

(Newser) - A car laden with explosives rammed through two gates and blew up at the United Nations' offices in Nigeria's capital today, killing at least seven people and shattering part of the concrete structure. The brazen attack, carried out as the UN offices teemed with staff, comes as Africa's...

UN Condemns Syria as 45 More Die

Security Council issues statement, falls short of resolution

(Newser) - In its first meaningful action since the Syria uprising began five months ago, the UN Security Council issued a statement yesterday condemning the government's use of force against civilians. The statement, finally agreed upon after three days of talks , "condemn[s] widespread violations of human rights" and calls on...

Security Council Mulls 'Climate Peacekeepers'

Meeting today will discuss UN's response to climate conflicts

(Newser) - Is climate change a matter of global security? The UN Security Council thinks it might be, and will hold a special session today to discuss what role, if any, it should have in dealing with it, the Guardian reports. Island nations that stand to be swallowed by rising seas are...

Starving Somalia to Get Famine Designation

UN agencies poised to add 'humanitarian catastrophe' label

(Newser) - Drought and food shortages have gotten so bad in southern Somalia that the UN is almost certain to upgrade the situation from a “humanitarian emergency” to a “famine/humanitarian catastrophe,” sources tell the Telegraph . “It’s 99% certain that tomorrow we will have to declare a full...

UN Orders Thai, Cambodian Troops Out of Temple Area

Court tries to end clashes around the Preah Vihear temple

(Newser) - The UN's highest court created a demilitarized zone around a 1,000-year-old temple today on the disputed border between Cambodia and Thailand, and ordered the armed forces from both countries to withdraw. Both countries claimed they were satisfied with the ruling by the International Court of Justice, meant to...

UN: Burma Uses Convicts as Shields, Slaves

Human Rights Watch demands war crimes investigation

(Newser) - Human Rights Watch is out with harrowing accusations about Burma's army and potential war crimes abuses, reports Reuters . The UN group accuses the military of forcing inmates from the nation's jails to act as human "pack mules" for the army on long marches, without adequate food or...

Pope Chides Greedy Speculators on Food Prices

Profit-hungry markets have ignored human rights, he says

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI denounced speculation in commodities markets today and demanded a global response to high food prices based on solidarity, not profit. Benedict told delegates of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization that access to food is a basic human right that must be guaranteed. He said it's...

Iran Testing 'Nuke-Capable Missiles'

Mid-range missiles could carry atomic warheads to US targets

(Newser) - Iran has conducted secret tests of nuclear-capable missiles, but the country says the exercise was a "message of peace and friendship." Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards admit to launching 14 missiles—one capable of reaching Israel or US targets in the Gulf—from an underground silo. British Foreign...

Angelina Jolie Visits Refugees in Italy

Actress, UN ambassador talks with thousands from Libya, Tunisia

(Newser) - Angelina Jolie traveled to the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa yesterday to thank its residents for welcoming in the estimated 20,000 migrants who arrived after fleeing unrest in Tunisia and Libya. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, toured a migrant holding center, chatted with...

UN Backs Gay Rights for First Time
UN Backs Gay Rights
for First Time
Jun 17, 2011 5:59 PM CDT

UN Backs Gay Rights for First Time

Human Rights Council orders report on discrimination

(Newser) - The United Nations endorsed the rights of gay, lesbian, and transgender people for the first time today, passing a resolution hailed as historic by the US and other backers and decried by some African and Muslim countries. The declaration was cautiously worded, expressing "grave concern" about abuses because of...

Qatar Deports Alleged Rape Victim Back to Libya

Iman al-Obeidy says they beat her and forced her onto plane

(Newser) - Qatar has sent Iman al-Obeidy back to Libya kicking and screaming, despite objections from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Obeidy tells CNN that Qatari guards took her and her parents from their hotel in Doha; took their cell phones, laptops, and money; beat her and handcuffed her; and then...

UN AIDS Report: HIV Infections Plummeted 25% Over Decade
Since 2001, New HIV Infections Plummeted 25%
says UN report
Jun 3, 2011 10:15 AM CDT

Since 2001, New HIV Infections Plummeted 25%

Still, some 2.6M were infected in 2009

(Newser) - Good news in the fight against AIDS: The annual rate of new HIV infections dropped by almost a quarter between 2001 and 2009, AIDS-related deaths have fallen, and the world has seen “unprecedented advances” in prevention and treatment accessibility, the UN AIDS agency says. Still, the unevenly-spread advancements are...

UN: Libyan Rebels Committed War Crimes, Too

But rebel offenses not as systematic, widespread as those of Gadhafi's forces

(Newser) - A UN investigation has found evidence that both sides of the Libyan conflict have committed war crimes—though the rebels had committed fewer than Moammar Gadhafi’s forces. The rebels were accused of torture and cruel treatment against migrant workers, “which would constitute war crimes,” the report said,...

Syria Tried Making Nuclear Weapons: UN

New report paves way for security council action

(Newser) - Syria “very likely” had a secret nuclear weapons program, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency report released yesterday, which concludes that the Dair Alzour site Israel bombed in 2007 was almost certainly an under-construction nuclear reactor. The allegations themselves are old news—US intelligence agencies presented evidence of...

UN Nuclear Experts: Iran Hacked Us
UN Nuclear Experts:
Iran Hacked Us
May 18, 2011 11:07 AM CDT

UN Nuclear Experts: Iran Hacked Us

IAEA investigating suspicions of tampering

(Newser) - Some of the International Atomic Energy Agency's top experts think Iranians hacked their cell phones and laptops, diplomats tell the AP. The incident is believed to have occurred earlier this year, when the diplomats left the equipment unattended during an inspection tour in Iran. The watchdog group became suspicious...

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