United Nations

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First Lady Prods UN Head on Burma Policy

Laura Bush urges tougher stance on crackdown on protests

(Newser) - As part of her ongoing campaign to raise awareness about strife in military-led Burma, Laura Bush called on the UN to condemn recent arrests of political dissidents. The first lady made her passion clear with a phone call to Secretary General Ban Ki Moon last week, in which she called...

UN Chief to Visit Darfur Camp
UN Chief to Visit Darfur Camp
Sep 5, 2007 5:39 AM CDT

UN Chief to Visit Darfur Camp

Ban wants to witness plight first hand

(Newser) - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will visit a refugee camp in Darfur to see for himself the plight of displaced people there and conditions facing UN peace keepers who will arrive next year. Ban, who's in Sudan on an official visit, is playing a double role, encouraging the Sudanese...

Iran Boasts of Nuke Potential
Iran Boasts of Nuke Potential
Sep 2, 2007 12:05 PM CDT

Iran Boasts of Nuke Potential

Ahmadinejad claims 3,000 centrifuges, after UN praises its probe cooperation

(Newser) - Iran is operating 3,000 centrifuges in a bid to enrich uranium for its nuclear program, president Ahmadinejad said today, contradicting a UN report that listed far fewer. But the Iranian president praised the report by the UN nuclear watchdog, which said the country’s rate of enrichment activities had...

UN Finds Iran Nuke Progress Slow
UN Finds
Iran Nuke
Progress Slow
Aug 30, 2007 3:12 PM CDT

UN Finds Iran Nuke Progress Slow

Tehran has overstated nuclear capacity, watchdog agency finds

(Newser) - The UN's nuclear watchdog says Iran’s uranium enrichment is progressing slowly, Reuters reports, a finding that will likely dim American efforts to impose new sanctions. “Iran made a fast start but then there was a leveling off,” said an official of the IAEA, whose report debunked Iran's...

Nerve Gas Found at UN Building
Nerve Gas Found at UN Building
Aug 30, 2007 12:46 PM CDT

Nerve Gas Found at UN Building

Building evacuated after vials of dangerous chemical turn up in office

(Newser) - Weapons inspectors cleaning out an office in a United Nations building near its Manhattan headquarters found six to eight vials of a nerve gas believed to have been recovered from Iraq in 1996, the AP reports. A UN spokeswoman said there was no immediate danger from the substance, identified as...

Iraqis Fleeing to US Hindered
Iraqis Fleeing to US Hindered
Aug 29, 2007 9:58 AM CDT

Iraqis Fleeing to US Hindered

Workers' lives are in danger, but exit routes are clogged

(Newser) - Iraqis who have worked with the occupation forces, endangering their own lives, face overwhelming obstacles if they want to enter the US as refugees. Tens of thousands of locals work for contractors, but because they're not directly employed by the US government, they're not eligible for special immigration status. The...

Lay Judges to Join Bench in Japan
Lay Judges
to Join Bench
in Japan
Aug 25, 2007 8:38 AM CDT

Lay Judges to Join Bench in Japan

Will citizens temper Japan's courts, where 99.9% are found guilty?

(Newser) - Japan will give citizens the gavel in an effort to counteract its judicial system’s prejudice for presuming guilt. Six citizens and three trained jurists will sit on criminal cases, and the majority will rule, Bloomberg reports. The new system follows a clamor of criticism about forced confessions, inhumane treatment...

African Union Rejects Asian Troops for Darfur

Claims African countries can supply all 26,000

(Newser) - Asian troops promised by the United Nations for a joint peacekeeping force in Darfur won't be needed, the leaders of the African Union said yesterday; African countries  will supply all 26,000 peacekeepers, the BBC reports. But critics doubt that enough trained African soldiers are available for an effective force,...

Maliki Calls Summit to Heal Iraqi Cabinet

PM threatens to replace Sunnis with "alternative" ministers

(Newser) - Iraq’s PM says he will try to salvage his disintegrating government by holding an emergency summit of cabinet members over the next couple of days. The BBC reports that Nouri al-Maliki is even warning Sunnis that he could refill his government with “alternative” ministers if they refuse to...

Danes Join Scramble for Arctic
Danes Join Scramble for Arctic
Aug 11, 2007 1:20 PM CDT

Danes Join Scramble for Arctic

Denmark to launch expedition to Arctic to defend territorial claims

(Newser) - A Danish expedition is set to head for the Arctic tomorrow, joining the scramble to claim polar territories. A team of 40 scientists and massive icebreakers are heading north to prove that a 2,000-kilometer underwater mountain range stretching to the pole is an extension of Greenland, and accordingly belongs...

UN to Increase Iraq Presence
UN to Increase Iraq Presence
Aug 10, 2007 1:20 PM CDT

UN to Increase Iraq Presence

US praises decision, but adds it too will continue to be involved

(Newser) - The UN will expand its role in Iraq and try to help quell the sectarian violence that has hobbled the country, after a Security Council vote today. Iraq's government says it'll help peacekeepers mediate disputes between the feuding sectarian groups and among Iraq’s neighbors in the region; the blue...

UN Offers to Boost Iraq Presence
UN Offers to Boost Iraq Presence
Aug 8, 2007 8:56 AM CDT

UN Offers to Boost Iraq Presence

New Baghdad compound and mediation aid also on the table

(Newser) - UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has offered to increase personnel in Iraq for the first time in more than 3 years and is seeking $130 million to build a reinforced compound in Baghdad for the growing UN mission. Ban faces a backlash from member states afraid of inheriting a...

Seoul Pleads for Taliban Talks
Seoul Pleads for Taliban Talks
Aug 4, 2007 3:55 PM CDT

Seoul Pleads for Taliban Talks

Delegation arrives in Afghanistan while Afghans, Taliban search for venue

(Newser) - South Korean officials are in Afghanistan seeking direct talks with the Taliban, Reuters reports, as the terrorist group and the Afghan government bicker over a venue for their own negotiations to free the  21 remaining Korean hostages. Two male members of the church group have been killed by the kidnappers.

Bush, Brown Back UN Iraq Force
Bush, Brown Back UN Iraq Force
Aug 3, 2007 8:09 AM CDT

Bush, Brown Back UN Iraq Force

Security Council resolution could mark beginning of exit strategy

(Newser) - The US and UK have circulated a draft resolution to the UN Security Council that would greatly increase the UN's role in Iraq, writes the Times of London. The resolution follows Bush and Brown's meeting at Camp David and is seen as a step towards an exit strategy from Iraq...

UN OKs 26K Troops for Darfur
UN OKs 26K Troops for Darfur
Jul 31, 2007 6:21 PM CDT

UN OKs 26K Troops for Darfur

But force will have limited license

(Newser) - The Security Council voted today to send as many as 26,000 soldiers and police to Sudan, Reuters reports. But the combined UN-African Union peacekeeping troops will have permission to use force only to defend civilians and humanitarian workers, a watering-down of proposals that would have allowed troops to seize...

US Will Share Nuke Fuel, Technology With India

Civilian deal reverses US precedent

(Newser) - The United States unveiled a plan today to share nuclear fuel and technology with India, upending decades of American non-proliferation strictures, the AP reports. The deal allows only civilian uses, but critics are concerned nonetheless about the specter of an Asian  nuclear arms race.

Spain Has a Taste for Immortality
Spain Has a Taste for Immortality
Jul 22, 2007 4:16 PM CDT

Spain Has a Taste for Immortality

Mediterranean food may be bound for exclusive UN status

(Newser) - The Great Barrier Reef and the Taj Mahal may have to make room on the UN's World Heritage list for ... sangria. Spain's culture minister wants Mediterranean cuisine added to UNESCO's list of humankind's treasures, and he may get his way, Der Spiegel reports—Portugal, which currently holds the EU presidency,...

North Korea Seeks Military Talks With US

US parries request, stands firm on push to end nuclear programs

(Newser) - On the eve of the arrival of UN observers monitoring the shutdown of its main nuclear plant, North Korea today appealed for direct military talks with the US. But Washington insists that the elimination of Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program takes precedence, the Voice of America reports, and a South Korean expert...

North Korea Agrees to Fold Nuke Factories

Wins political concessions, economic aid for shutdown

(Newser) - North Korea reached a promising accord with the UN today, pledging to shut its main nuclear reactor in exchange for economic aid and political compromise from the US and its allies. IAEA inspectors returned today from the Yongbyon nuclear complex—the first visit since monitors were expelled in 2002—and...

Russia Stakes Claim to Oil-Rich Arctic Territory

Kremlin claims underwater shelf links huge chunk to Russia

(Newser) - Russia has claimed a massive, oil-rich chunk of the Arctic, despite international laws that block ownership of the territory. The Kremlin based its move on scientists' insistence that an underwater shelf links Russia to 460,000 square miles of the North Pole, which contains 10 billion tons of oil and...

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