United Nations

Stories 721 - 740 | << Prev   Next >>

UN Pleads for Troops as Congo Battle Rages

Peacekeepers overwhelmed as rebels advance against government troops

(Newser) - The overwhelmed United Nations peacekeeping force in eastern Congo is urgently calling for reinforcements, the AP reports. A surge in fighting between Congolese government troops and forces led by a renegade general has sent tens of thousands fleeing. The UN currently has only 6,000 troops in North Kivu, where...

Jolie Returns, Moved, From Afghanistan Trip

Goodwill ambassador visited refugees, urges international aid

(Newser) - Angelina Jolie made a trip to Afghanistan last week in her role as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations, spending two days among the country's returning refugees. The actress visited sites where thousands of Afghans live in makeshift housing and struggle to find work, problems that typify the stress the...

Wrong on Iraq, Wrong on Barack
 Wrong on Iraq, 
 Wrong on Barack 
OPINION
Oct 21, 2008 2:07 PM CDT

Wrong on Iraq, Wrong on Barack

Obama endorsement brings Powell's judgment into question — again

(Newser) - Just as Colin Powell overlooked UN corruption before the Iraq war, he's overlooking Barack Obama's flaws as a candidate, Claudia Rosett writes in the National Review. His endorsement lacked any specifics about the transformations Obama will bring about, leading her to revisit Powell's previous "blind spots." Rosett doesn't...

US, Iraq Close to 2011 Pullout Pact

Deal would also allow Iraq prosecutions of US soldiers who commit rape, murder

(Newser) - The US and Iraq are close to clinching a new security agreement which would include a targeted 2011 date for troop withdrawal—and a provision to allow US troops to be prosecuted in Iraqi courts. The US military has enjoyed blanket immunity from criminal prosecution, but under the new agreement...

N. Korea Readies Test Launch Missiles

UN monitoring halted, disarmament pact nearing collapse

(Newser) - North Korea sent 10 missiles to test-launch sites off the Yellow Sea today and halted UN monitoring of its nuclear complex, Reuters reports, in the latest hardline signal from the Communist regime as it flirts with scrapping a nuclear disarmament deal. Meanwhile, Pyongyang tested two ship-to-ship missiles in the West...

Biofuels Not Worth Upward Push on Food Prices: UN

Nations should rethink subsidies: report

(Newser) - While use of biofuels is supposed to combat climate change, the effects of its production on food prices is not worth the emissions they offset, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said today. The FAO called for countries to review production quotas and subsidies that encourage biofuel use in...

UN Crackdown on Heroin Is Bleeding Taliban Dry

Hundreds of tons of chemicals seized

(Newser) - The UN has been quietly striking a major blow against the Taliban with a widely successful international attack on its heroin trade, Bloomberg reports. The campaign has seized several hundred tons of acetic anhydride bound for Afghanistan. Without the chemical, the Taliban can’t convert its poppy, which sells for...

Report to UN: Dudes, Legalize Weed

Drug less harmful than alcohol or smoking, report says

(Newser) - Slick-suited diplomats are not the likeliest advocates for lifting worldwide marijuana bans, but a British scientific report targets the UN, saying a regulated marijuana market would remove most of the drug's harm, since it comes from prohibition itself, the Guardian reports. Legalizing it would also allow governments to tax the...

'Gordon Gekko': Wall Street Isn't Wall Street

Actor Douglas deflects questions about financial markets

(Newser) - Questions from reporters apparently confused by the fantasy-reality divide forced Michael Douglas to explain yesterday that he isn't actually the investment banker he played in 1987's Wall Street. Although he won an Oscar for portraying "greed is good" proponent Gordon Gekko, he's not an expert on the current financial...

Iran Leader: 'American Empire' Coming to an End

Ahmadinejad, speaking at UN, vows to resists 'bullying powers'

(Newser) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today that the days of America asserting its influence over the world are numbered, Reuters reports. At the UN, Ahmadinejad blamed a "few bullying powers" for the world's troubles and for trying to rein in his nation's peaceful nuclear ambitions. Ahmadinejad, who earlier made...

In Final Visit, Bush Touts UN
 In Final Visit, 
 Bush Touts UN 
Sep 23, 2008 12:43 PM CDT

In Final Visit, Bush Touts UN

Multinational bodies key against extremists, president tells General Assembly

(Newser) - President Bush, who once expressed disdain for the United Nations, said today that multinational organizations are now "needed more urgently than ever" to combat extremists threatening world order. In his eighth and final speech to the General Assembly, Bush said the international community must stand firm against North Korea...

Clinton Cancels Event After Palin Invited, Too

Hillary calls off appearance at Jewish rally outside UN

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton has canceled an appearance at a New York rally next week after organizers blindsided her by also inviting Sarah Palin. Several American Jewish groups are planning a major demonstration outside the United Nations on Sept. 22 to protest against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Clinton aides were furious that...

Palin Plans Meet-and-Greet at UN Next Week

McCain plans to introduce her to foreign leaders at general assembly

(Newser) - John McCain plans to introduce Sarah Palin to foreign leaders at the United Nations next week to boost her foreign-policy experience, the Wall Street Journal reports. McCain advisers say they hope the running mate will demonstrate her diplomatic prowess and understanding of foreign-policy issues during the visit Tuesday, the same...

Damon, Singer Jean Help in Haiti

Call on UN to raise $100M for storm recovery

(Newser) - Matt Damon and singer Wyclef Jean waded through knee-deep flood waters during a tour of decimated Gonaives, Haiti, yesterday to call attention to the widespread suffering that has followed tropical storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike. "I'm speechless, I can't believe it," Damon told the AP. The actor and...

UN Urges: Eat Less Meat to Fight Warming

Cattle 'emissions' equal effect of 33 million automobiles

(Newser) - Meat-eaters who want to help fight global warming can do so by going vegetarian at least one day a week, a top UN official tells the Guardian. The meat industry accounts for an estimated one-fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions, released during feed production and as methane by flatulent livestock....

Haitians Starving in Hanna Hell
 Haitians Starving in Hanna Hell
Sep 5, 2008 2:20 AM CDT

Haitians Starving in Hanna Hell

Survivors stranded on rooftops beyond reach of aid workers

(Newser) - Impoverished Haiti is reeling from the devastation of a series of tropical storms and hurricanes, with refugees starving on rooftops in flood-ravaged areas, reports the Guardian. Faced with washed-out roads and winds too strong for helicopters, UN aide workers are using inflatable boats to reach at least some survivors. The...

Suu Kyi Rejects Food Deliveries, Sparks Rumors of Hunger Strike

Burma leader frustrated with UN, aides say

(Newser) - Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has refused food deliveries to her house for two weeks, prompting speculation that she is on a hunger strike against the government, the AP reports. Supporters say she's grown increasingly frustrated with the UN's failure to intervene in the junta-ruled nation—the...

US-Led Strike Killed 90 Afghan Civilians: UN

Civilians, mostly children, killed

(Newser) - The UN has evidence that a coalition airstrike did indeed kill roughly 90 civilians, most of them children, in Afghanistan last week, Reuters reports. The US has been insisting that only 30 were killed in the strike, most of them Taliban militants, but the UN’s special mission to Afghanistan...

Russia Blocks UN Effort to End Georgia War

Moscow refuses call to withdraw troops to pre-conflict lines

(Newser) - Russia has rejected a draft Security Council resolution seeking to end the violence in Georgia, reports the BBC, by rejecting the UN body's call to return to its pre-conflict positions. Russia, which wants to keep its troops inside South Ossetia, said that the clause contradicts last week's ceasefire. Moscow holds...

US Tells Russia Not to Redraw Borders

Rice takes hard line at NATO meeting on Georgia invasion

(Newser) - Russia’s “strategic objective” won’t be met by its invasion of Georgia, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Moscow today during a NATO gathering, the Guardian reports. “This NATO which has come so far in a Europe that is whole, free, and at peace is not...

Stories 721 - 740 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser