United Nations

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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

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

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...

UN Powers Agree to Slam N. Korean Rocket Launch

But critics question if pact is legally binding

(Newser) - Key Security Council nations reached an agreement today on a statement that would condemn North Korea's rocket launch and toughen UN sanctions against it. The US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Japan approved the pact after Tokyo backed down from a demand for a new resolution, which is the strongest...

Japan Tightens N. Korea Sanctions
Japan Tightens N. Korea Sanctions

Japan Tightens N. Korea Sanctions

UN fails to agree on punishment for rocket launch

(Newser) - Japan is punishing North Korea for its recent rocket launch with renewed and tightened sanctions, the BBC reports. Japan has lowered the cap on monetary transmissions to reduce the flow of money into the country. A ban on imports from North Korea remains in place, but a total ban on...

Somalia Piracy Hampers Food Aid: UN

Danger of hijacking has raised costs dramatically, WFP official says

(Newser) - Piracy off the coast of Somalia is making relief organizations' work even more difficult, Reuters reports. The UN’s World Food Program  today decried both the hijacking of ships bearing aid supplies—the Maersk Alabama, for example, had 232 WFP containers on board when it was seized this week—and...

US Seeks to Join Nuke Talks With Iran

(Newser) - The US wants to be a direct party to nuclear talks between Iran and the UN, CNN reports. Washington had stayed away from earlier negotiations because it has no diplomatic relationship with the country, but the State Department said today it had asked an EU official to invite Iran to...

China Firm Sold Illegal Nuke Materials to Iran: Prosecutors

Company said to have sent tons of supplies, breaching UN rules

(Newser) - New York officials today charged a Chinese businessman with illegally selling tons of materials to Iran that could be used to make rockets and nuclear weapons, the New York Times reports. Sales in 2006-08 of tungsten and other metals, often through shell firms, break UN rules, prosecutors say. Li Fang...

Attacks on Aid Workers Hit Record in 2008

It's more dangerous to distribute aid than fight as a UN peacekeeper

(Newser) - A shocking number of fatal attacks on international aid workers made 2008 the most dangerous year yet to perform such work, Reuters reports. Last year, 260 workers were attacked on the job, 122 fatally; the majority were working in Somalia, Darfur, or Afghanistan. The Center on International Cooperation’s study...

UN Split Over Response to N. Korea Rocket

Russia, China resist as US, Japan call for punishment

(Newser) - The US and Japan have hit international resistance as they push for a firm response to yesterday’s North Korean rocket launch over Japan, the Guardian reports. As the second day of emergency UN talks begins today, China and Russia aren’t backing a proposed statement condemning the move from...

UN Picks Judge to Probe Israeli 'War Crimes'

Jewish South African will investigate allegations of abuses

(Newser) - The UN has named a Jewish judge from South Africa to lead a high-level mission to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, reports the AP. Richard Goldstone, the UN's former chief prosecutor for war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, will head the probe ordered by...

US to Join UN Human Rights Panel, Reversing Bush

(Newser) - In another reversal of Bush policy, the Obama administration said today it would seek to join the UN Human Rights Council. The US will participate in May elections for one of three open seats on the 3-year-old body, the Washington Post reports. Bushies declined to join, arguing that the council...

Khmer Rouge Hearings Begin
Khmer Rouge Hearings Begin

Khmer Rouge Hearings Begin

Head of Cambodian prison charged with war crimes, torture, premeditated murder

(Newser) - One of the most feared figures of Pol Pot's fanatical regime in Cambodia has begun to tell his story on the witness stand as hearings begin in his trial, reports the Los Angeles Times. The former head of a Khmer Rough prison, Kaing Khev Iev—known as Duch—is charged...

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