Homs continues to endure an onslaught of rockets and mortars in the regime’s worst massacre of civilians since the uprising in Syria began 11 months ago.
United Nations
Crikey Says: Swimming to Cyprus
UNESCO welcomes the Palestinians — at a price
After losing some of the limelight in the past fortnight due to the Israel-Hamas deal for the release of Gilad Shalit, the “official” Palestinian leadership of Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas bounced back yesterday.
Seven billionth baby scandal
The birth of the world’s seven billionth baby — little Danica from the Philippines — became a big media story. But while the United Nations says we’ve reached seven billion, the US Census Bureau argues that it won’t happen for another four months.
Two thirds of global murders occur in Africa or central America
Thanks to the worsening drug wars, men in Central America have a whopping 1 in 50 chance of being murdered before 30, according to a new United Nations report.
Palestine’s UN bin: a time of great opportunity
The longstanding situation between Palestine and Israel has become untenable, but Palestine’s bid to join the United Nations may turn a crisis into an opportunity, writes James L. Richardson.
Palestine to seek full UN membership
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has confirmed that Palestine will submit a statehood bid seeking full United Nations membership later this month, reports Roee Nahmias.
Letter from...: Letter from: Ghana … caught on the wrong side of the political divide
While Côte d’Ivoire may be relatively stable for now, human rights organisations continue to express concern at the government’s seeming unwillingness to investigate and prosecute its own forces, writes journalist Clair MacDougall.
Hold the treaty, I’ll have a six pack
Cancun is probably the perfect venue for the 16th Conference of the Parties and for the UN climate change secretariat to kick the partying college students out for a fortnight and get to work on their six-packs. Because that’s probably all they’ll achieve, says Giles Parkinson.
In smoggy Tianjin, ‘structural imbalance’ is the hot topic
Day two of UN climate talks in heavily-polluted Tianjin fittingly started with a side event on coal use in China. Burning coal and the “structural imbalance” of energy use is the hot topic, writes Owen Pascoe, who is at the talks for the Australian Conservation Foundation.
UN set to give Oz a serve on our racial discrimination record
The UN Committee that monitors breaches of the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (the CERD Committee) will report on its examination of Australia this weekend.
Fears for Pakistan floods: only 20% of UN aid received
Up to 20 million people are currently homeless because of Pakistan’s epic floods, leaving an already politically embattled nation struggling to survive and UN chief Ban Ki-moon pleading for aid from foreign donors.
Kosovo’s independence: a battle lost
The UN has upheld Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia. The battle for Kosovo may have been lost, writes Simon Tisdall, but this legal decision sets an important precedent for other separatist groups.
Iran explodes over UN inspectors
More conflict between Iran and the U.N. has ensued following the ban of two nuclear inspectors from Tehran. Iran officials allege the inspectors leaked false information about experiments conducted at a research laboratory.
Something’s rotten in the UN’s World Food Programme
News that half of the food aid sent to Somalia ends up in the hands of contractors, militants and UN staffers is just the latest scandal in a long history of corruption in the UN’s World Food Programme.
How the UN poisoned Bangladesh
How a UN and World Bank-backed scheme to bring clean drinking water to millions of Bangladeshis went horribly wrong, resulting in what the World Health Organisation has labeled “the largest mass poisoning of a population in history”.
leaked China’s Copenhagen report
A Chinese think-tank report from the Copenhagen climate summit leaked to the Guardian reveals the government didn’t set out to spoil the talks, just to avoid rich nations’ “conspiracy to divide the developing world”.
Ban Ki-Moon: Help Haiti, help the world
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon tells of his experiences in Haiti in an op-ed for the Washington Post and makes his plea: helping Haiti swiftly and effectively in its hour of need will give hope to the entire world’s poor.
Did the UN mislead us on climate change?
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has egg on its face after its long-held claim that climate change will melt most of the Himalayan glaciers by 2035 has been revealed as pure speculation published in a non-academic pop-science magazine.
Peter Galbraith: I was not plotting against Karzai
Ousted former senior UN official Peter Galbraith says a NYT piece accusing him of plotting to oust Afghan President Hamid Karzai was false: the UN is just trying to distract people from its terrible mishandling of the country’s elections.
The UN plot to oust Karzai
Following revelations of wide-spread fraud in the Afghan election, fired senior UN official Peter Galbraith planned to enlist the US’s help to replace President Hamid Karzai with “a more Western-friendly figure”. Is that the real reason he was given the boot?
UN: Tony Abbott will motivate climate sceptics
The chair of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the recent success of climate sceptic Tony Abbott will help fuel other naysayers, comparing him to George W. Bush.
PHOTO GALLERY: Portraits of the powerful
An incredible series of world leader portraits — including audio about each subject’s photo — by Platon of The New Yorker, taken during the latest sitting of the UN General Assembly.
UN sends Nicolas Cage to fight Somali pirates
Clearly the most qualified candidate for the roll, actor Nicolas has gone to Africa to meet with jailed Somali pirates in his capacity as a “Goodwill Ambassador on Drugs and Crime” for the UN.
revealed UN secretly negotiating with Iran to lift nuclear sanctions
Documents leaked to the Times reveal the United Nations has been negotiating with Iranian officials to lift the country’s nuclear sanctions, allowing it to retain most of its nuclear program, in return for co-operation with UN inspectors.
