United Nations

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Saudis Bumping Oil Flow 2% to Slow Soaring Prices

July increase adds 200,000 barrels a day to pipeline

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia, worried soaring prices could weaken the world's appetite for oil, will increase production by 200,000 barrels a day, beginning next month, the Saudi oil minister told UN chief Ban Ki-moon in a meeting yesterday. The move follows a May increase of 300,000 barrels, the AP notes.

Ping-Pong Got Ball Rolling to Beijing Games

Two players braved Sino-US frost with landmark '71 visit

(Newser) - It wasn't statesmen who broke China's 22 years of isolation from the West in 1971, but rather, Sports Illustrated notes, grown men with paddles. When Glenn Cowan accidentally jumped on the Chinese team bus during world table-tennis championships in Japan, star Zhuang Zedong brushed aside Mao's anti-capitalist harangues to greet...

Amid Pressure, Helping Iran on Nuke Power More Popular

Diplomats, legislators back idea of international enrichment; Bush again lashes out

(Newser) - Even as US and European leaders warned today of new sanctions, a controversial plan to help Iran build an internationally run nuclear enrichment facility is gaining traction in Washington, the Boston Globe reports. The Bush administration rejected the proposal from MIT scientists 3 years ago, but now legislators from both...

Food vs. Fuel Battle Flares at UN Summit

Egypt's Mubarak asks, should we be feeding people or cars?

(Newser) - The battle over biofuels is raging at the UN’s food summit in Rome, with nations bitterly divided over whether growing corn and sugar cane for ethanol production is pushing food prices up and helping create disastrous global food shortages. On one side: Food experts who call diversion of crops...

UN Boosts Members' Powers to Fight Africa Piracy

Navy vessels can follow hijackers into Somali waters

(Newser) - With piracy a growing problem off the Horn of Africa, the UN will allow its members to combat pirates using “all necessary means,” including chasing them into Somali waters, CNN reports. Somalia’s transitional government supports the move. More than two dozen pirate attacks have been reported in...

UN Chief Urges 50% Boost in Food Production

Ban warns of further riots, starvation if high prices aren't contained

(Newser) - UN chief Ban Ki-Moon today called for a 50% rise in world food production by 2030 to fight starvation and civil unrest as the population grows. He spoke at the World Food Security conference in Rome, where world leaders are working to address the highest commodity prices in decades. Such...

Leaders Rip Mugabe's 'Obscene' Trip to Food Talks

President accused of presiding over starvation of his nation

(Newser) - British and Australian ministers have blasted Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's attendance at a world food summit in Rome, charging him with turning his nation from the breadbasket of Africa into a country plagued by food shortages, reports the BBC. They also criticized him for using food aid given to ZImbabwe...

UN Head: Drop Policies That Up Food Prices

Ban urges global response to avert mass starvation

(Newser) - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will plead with world leaders at a food summit in Rome tomorrow to suspend trade restrictions, agricultural taxes, and other price controls that have helped create the highest food prices in 30 years, reports the Washington Post. Ban will also urge the US and other...

World Bank Offers $1.2B in Food Aid

Millions at risk of starvation

(Newser) - The World Bank is offering an emergency $1.2 billion in aid to several nations in a desperate bid to stave off starvation for millions of people, reports the BBC. The money is being offered to Haiti, Liberia, Djibouti, Togo, Yemen and other nations identified as at immediate risk from...

Germany Pledges Billions for Rainforest Protection

Funds tripled by 2012, add $785M a year after

(Newser) - Germany will spend billions of euros protecting tropical rainforests in an effort to halt global warming. Chancellor Angela Merkel said today at the United Nations' biodiversity conference that Germany will increase its funding for the conservation of rainforests from $330 million to $1.1 billion in the next three years...

Report Bares Child Abuse by Peacekeepers

Watchdog should be appointed to protect kids, charity urges

(Newser) - A shocking number of children as young as 6 are being sexually abused by peacekeepers and aid workers sent to protect them, a top global charity has found. Children are “suffering sexual exploitation and abuse in silence,” fearful of speaking out, said a representative for Save the Children....

UN Nuke Watchdog Accuses Iran of Hiding Data

Tehran says it has 'left no question unanswered'

(Newser) - The UN's nuclear watchdog blasted Tehran today for hiding data on its nuclear weapons program, BBC reports. The UN said Iran had blocked access to documents and experts while running 3,500 centrifuges, which can enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. Iran quickly vowed to keep enriching uranium and said it...

Billions Wasted in UN Carbon Program: Study

Most funded projects 'won't reduce emissions'

(Newser) - Billions of dollars spent to encourage developing nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions are being wasted on projects that don't qualify, according to two new studies of the UN's carbon credit program. The Kyoto agreement arranges for wealthy countries unable to meet emission reductions to instead subsidize green energy projects...

US Navy Jet Buzzes Curacao, Venezuela Furious

Drug patrol jet violation 'deliberate,' officials claim

(Newser) - A US Navy drug-patrol plane violated Venuzuelan airspace Saturday night, exacerbating  the  already-tense relationship between the two nations. The S-3 Viking, used to spot and attack drug-running ships, flew over the line near the island of Curacao, reports CNN. The pilot realized he made a navigational error, contacted a Venezuela...

Burma Relents on Foreign Docs, Aid Workers

But only from ASEAN member nations

(Newser) - Two and a half weeks after cyclone Nargis hit, Burma finally agreed today to allow foreign medics and disaster experts into the battered country, reports the BBC—but only from ASEAN member nations. UN chief Ban Ki-Moon also plans to jet to Burma on Wednesday to bring additional pressure to...

Junta Leader Visits Nargis Victims as UN Envoy Arrives

General meets survivors for first time since cyclone hit

(Newser) - The head of Burma's junta emerged today for the first time since cyclone Nargis struck two weeks ago to meet with survivors, CNN reports. Gen. Than Shwe visited a refugee camp 200 miles south of Yangon, touching the faces of infant survivors. The visit came as the UN's humanitarian secretary...

133K Dead, Missing: Junta
 133K Dead, Missing: Junta 
May 16, 2008 5:05 PM CDT

133K Dead, Missing: Junta

Military admits full impact of storm

(Newser) - Nearly 78,000 are confirmed dead and another 56,000 missing in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, Reuters reports. Torrential rains continued to pound Burma today, complicating rescue efforts. The EU’s chief aid official met with military leaders to press for increasing foreign rescue workers' involvement, but he met...

Thailand, UN Seek Aid Route as New Burma Storm Builds

Latest tropical storm likely to become a cylcone

(Newser) - Thailand and the United Nations are working to open a land route from northern Thailand into Burma to get desperately needed help to cyclone survivors, reports the Wall Street Journal. The frantic efforts to deliver aid quickly have been stepped up as the UN's weather center is warning that another...

Rain Lashes Cyclone Survivors, UN Lashes Junta

UN chief 'immensely frustrated' by Burmese junta's lack of swift action

(Newser) - Two more American relief planes were scheduled to take off for Burma today, but the nation's military junta came in for another UN pounding for refusing to allow more desperately needed supplies to cyclone-stricken regions. "We are at a critical point. Unless more aid gets into the country very...

Analysts Urge Washington to Invade Burma

Others advise against forcing aid on devastated country

(Newser) - Analysts and aid workers appalled by Burma’s attitude to foreign aid are urging Washington to invade, Time reports. One observer has called for the US to airlift food regardless of the junta’s restrictions; a retired general wants China to pacify Burma about US aid, or Thailand to paint...

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