United Nations

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UN Begins Gaza War Crimes Probe

Israel alleges bias, but Jewish rapporteur draws wide praise

(Newser) - A UN team investigating possible war crimes by the Israeli army and Hamas has arrived in the Gaza Strip for a weeklong fact-finding mission. Israel is refusing to cooperate with what it calls a "masquerade," alleging that the UN Human Rights Council is unfairly biased. But the selection...

UN Fights to Release Child Soldiers in Chad

Boys as young as 13 held captive by African nation's army

(Newser) - The UN has obtained access to 80 child soldiers, some as young as 13, who have been taken prisoner in Chad near the Sudanese region of Darfur. UNICEF says that the children were captured and paraded before television cameras after a battle in early May between the Chadian army and...

Security Council Condemns N. Korea

(Newser) - The UN Security Council has condemned North Korea's nuclear test as a clear violation of its resolutions. The council said in a statement today that it will begin work immediately on a new legally binding resolution addressing North Korea's violations.

UN Scrambles to Meet as World Slams N. Korea

US, Japan want to act, but China may block tough action

(Newser) - North Korea's surprise nuclear test this morning drew protests in the South and threats from world governments to punish the regime with further sanctions. Barack Obama and Gordon Brown both condemned the blasts, and France said it would discuss "strengthening sanctions" at today's emergency Security Council meeting. Even China,...

Sex Harassment Cases Besiege UN

(Newser) - The United Nations is being hammered by a string of sexual harassment cases filed by employees, reports the Wall Street Journal. The development is particularly painful for an organization that is supposed to uphold human rights around the world. Victims complain about an old-boys' network of adjudication that allows colleagues...

Clinton Aims to Save Pakistan With Text Donations

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton is hoping text messages can save Pakistan’s Swat Valley. The Secretary of State is asking Americans to text “swat” to 20222 to make a $5 donation to help refugees from the fighting there, Foreign Policy reports. The money would go to a UN agency, which provides...

Bill Clinton Will be Named UN Special Envoy to Haiti

(Newser) - Bill Clinton will be named the United Nation’s special envoy to Haiti this week, Foreign Policy reports. Clinton’s popularity in the deeply impoverished nation remains high from his presidential tenure, when he intervened to restore Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the presidency after his 1994 ouster. The announcement, expected tomorrow,...

Army: Sri Lanka War in 'Final Stage'

Tens of thousands of civilians trapped; UN envoy arrives

(Newser) - The Sri Lankan government claims to be within 48 hours of capturing the last holdout of Tamil Tigers, as the Red Cross warned of "an unimaginable human catastrophe" for the tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the war zone. Only a few hundred rebels remain in a two-mile-square...

Ground Troops Reach Taliban HQ: Pakistan

Refugee crisis mounts as fighting ramps up

(Newser) - Pakistani soldiers descended on a Taliban stronghold in Swat Valley today to “search and destroy,” a military spokesman tells Reuters. Ground troops were also moving toward the remote northwest region as the military ramps up its offensive against insurgents there. Officials say 751 of the vastly outnumbered militants...

US Lands Seat on UN Human Rights Council

Bush White House had boycotted body over Israel, Darfur stances

(Newser) - The US today won a seat on the UN Human Rights Council for the first time, along with four countries accused of serious human rights violations: Cuba, Saudi Arabia, China, and Russia. President Bush's administration had boycotted the council over its repeated criticism of Israel and its refusal to cite...

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...

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