United Nations

Stories 641 - 660 | << Prev   Next >>

UN: Sri Lanka Conflict a 'Bloodbath'

Aid groups urge Japan to push for Security Council action

(Newser) - After intense weekend fighting, the UN says the battle between rebels and the government in Sri Lanka has become a “bloodbath,” the New York Times reports. A government doctor estimates 1,000 civilians died in the heavy shelling of the small coastal area occupied by a few hundred...

Pakistani Civilians Stuck as 55 Militants Die in War

Curfew curbs residents' flight in 'war of country's survival'

(Newser) - Pakistani troops and warplanes killed at least 55 Taliban militants today in what Prime Minister Raza Gilani is calling a "war of the country's survival," the AP reports. Fighting centered in the northwestern Swat Valley, where a curfew prevented residents from fleeing and the main town has...

Sudan Invites Aid Groups Back to Darfur

After getting the boot in March, NGOs to return to troubled region

(Newser) - The Sudanese government says it will invite new aid groups to work in Darfur and let the UN and other agencies expand their operations in the region. The announcement comes two months after Sudan expelled 13 NGOs, including Doctors Without Borders, in the aftermath of the International Criminal Court's indictment...

Palestinians Suffer Behind Bethlehem Barrier: UN

Residents can only access 13% of the area: report

(Newser) - Palestinians have access to just 13% of the land around Bethlehem due to Israeli military zones, a barrier, and settlements, a UN report charges just days before Pope Benedict is due to visit the holy city. “Bethlehem’s potential for residential and industrial expansion and development has been reduced,...

Doctor: 64 Dead in Shelling of Sri Lankan Hospital

(Newser) - Artillery shells hit a makeshift hospital in Sri Lanka's northern war zone today, killing at least 64 civilians, a government doctor reports, amid growing international pressure to safeguard thousands of civilians trapped in the area. A rebel-linked website accused government forces of shelling the hospital, while the military said soldiers...

UN to Israel: Stop Demolition of E. Jerusalem Homes

City planning crisis means thousands of illegally built Palestinian houses

(Newser) - In East Jerusalem, overcrowding and strict rules about where Palestinians can build houses have led to the illegal construction of thousands of homes. Nearly a third of all Palestinian homes in the sector, occupied by some 60,000 people, were  built without permits. In response, the city government has issued...

Lebanon Frees Generals Held in Death of Ex-PM Hariri

It could boost Hezbollah-led opposition in elections

(Newser) - Lebanon today released four generals held nearly 4 years in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri after a UN-backed tribunal ordered them freed, setting off celebrations with fireworks and dancing. Their release leaves the international tribunal with no suspects in custody after a four-year UN investigation into...

N. Korea to UN: Apologize or It's Bombs Away

(Newser) - North Korea is demanding an apology from the UN Security Council for condemning its rocket test this month, threatening more tests of nuclear and conventional missiles if it is not mollified, the Guardian reports. Pyongyang demanded the council drop its resolutions against North Korean military tests. The South Korean government...

US Swine Flu Cases Hit 40; Mexican Death Toll 149

(Newser) - The US is now confirming 40 cases of swine flu, while the death toll in Mexico is thought to have risen to 149, the Wall Street Journal reports. Of more than a thousand suspected cases in Mexico, only 26 have been confirmed, along with six in Canada and one in...

6,500 Civilians Dead as Sri Lanka War Nears End

Army, rebels both accused of exacerbating death toll

(Newser) - Nearly 6,500 ethnic Tamil civilians have been killed in the last 3 months of fighting in Sri Lanka, the UN estimates. The level of civilian deaths has increased dramatically as the bloody 26-year civil war draws to a close, with the army pressing Tamil separatists into a tiny coastal...

Up to 110K Civilians Flee Sri Lankan War Zone

(Newser) - Thousands more civilians flooded out of the final battlefield in Sri Lanka’s civil war today, bringing the total number of displaced to more than 80,000, Reuters reports. The UN said that number could be as high as 110,000, though only 7,500 had reached refugee camps clear...

Iranian Prez Dropped Holocaust Denial From UN Speech

Ahmadinejad had called it 'ambiguous and dubious'

(Newser) - It didn't stop a mass walkout, but Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually toned down the speech he gave at a UN racism conference yesterday, the UN said today, dropping language denying the reality of the Holocaust. In the original text of his speech, he said of Western nations: "Following...

Ahmadinejad Speech Sparks UN Walkout

(Newser) - Delegates stormed out of the United Nations conference on racism today in Geneva, protesting a speech by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the New York Times reports. The Iranian president used his speech to criticize Israel for leaving “an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering,” in an effort...

Israel Yanks Ambassador to Switzerland

Outraged as Iranian, Swiss leaders meet at UN racism conference

(Newser) - Israel has angrily called home its ambassador to Switzerland after that country's president met with Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ahead of a politically charged UN meeting on racism that began today, the Times of London reports. On Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day, Switzerland’s “guest of honor is a racist...

US Boycotts United Nations Racism Meeting

Obama bows out over Israel critique; black caucus upset

(Newser) - The Obama administration will boycott "with regret" a UN conference on racism next week over language in the meeting's final document that could single out Israel for criticism and restrict free speech, the State Department said today. The decision will likely please Jewish groups that lobbied against US participation,...

UN Pressure Is 'Declaration of War': N. Korea

Outrage over rocket launch makes conflict 'a matter of time'

(Newser) - North Korea will consider pressure from Western nations over its recent rocket launch to be a  "declaration of war," Pyongyang said today. The nation is already increasing its "defense capability including nuclear deterrent in every way" due to US and UN criticism of the launch, which...

After Dustup, N. Korea Boots Nuke Inspectors

(Newser) - Following a UN reprimand—and North Korea’s indignant exit from multilateral talks on its nuclear program—Pyongyang has expelled international inspectors, the Wall Street Journal reports. The International Atomic Energy Agency will announce the move shortly. North Korea called the UN statement an “unbearable insult,” but some...

N. Korea Says It's Done With Nuke Talks

UN's 'unbearable insult' sparks threat to re-start plutonium production

(Newser) - North Korea has vowed to never again take part in talks over its nuclear program after the "unbearable insult" of the UN Security Council's condemnation of its rocket launch, the BBC reports. A strongly worded statement from the country's foreign ministry also threatened to reactivate its partially dismantled nuclear...

UN Condemns N. Korea's Rocket Launch
 UN Condemns 
 N. Korea's Rocket Launch 
UPDATED
Apr 13, 2009 3:35 PM CDT

UN Condemns N. Korea's Rocket Launch

Statement demands end to nuclear program, proposes more sanctions

(Newser) - A week after North Korea's rocket launch, the UN Security Council today condemned the action, demanding an end to missile tests and vowing to expand sanctions against the reclusive nation. The statement, agreed upon by all 15 members and read at a formal meeting of the UN's most powerful body,...

Defiant Ahmadinejad Blasts US, UN
 Defiant 
 Ahmadinejad 
 Blasts US, UN 
interview
Apr 12, 2009 10:01 AM CDT

Defiant Ahmadinejad Blasts US, UN

In lengthy interview, Iranian Prez gives his opinions on Obama, Iraq, Europe

(Newser) - The diminutive leader of Iran has a big ego and is a big talker: in a lengthy interview with Der Spiegel, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad talked a lot—about his feelings for President Obama, his beef with Iraq, and other international issues—but in the end, avoided answering many of the...

Stories 641 - 660 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser