United Nations

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36 Pounds of Cocaine Seized at UN

Spokesman believes it was accident by traffickers

(Newser) - A bag containing 36 pounds of cocaine has been seized in the mailroom of the UN's Manhattan headquarters. There was no name or address on the bag sent from Mexico City through Cincinnati, but it was stamped with a poor copy of a UN logo, which set off a...

Khmer Rouge Tribunal Is Too Broke to Pay Staff

Gov't out of money, 300 Cambodians won't be paid this month

(Newser) - Money problems are threatening the UN's Khmer Rouge trials in Cambodia, reports the AP . The tribunal employs 480 people, and while the international staff is getting paid, the 300 Cambodians who work there have not been paid this month. The tribunal's judges and prosecutors have not been paid...

UN Chief to Syria's Assad: Stop Killing Your People

Ban Ki-moon says 'old order is crumbling'

(Newser) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon demanded today that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stop the slaughter of his own people, and said the "old order" of one-man rule and family dynasties is over in the Middle East. In a keynote address at a conference on democracy in the Arab world, Ban...

Iran Agrees to UN Inspection
 Iran Agrees to UN Inspection 

Iran Agrees to UN Inspection

And calls for 'serious' talks in Turkey

(Newser) - Maybe Iran isn't barreling toward war after all. Western diplomats say Iran has agreed to allow UN nuclear inspectors into the country, with the trip currently scheduled for Jan. 28, the Wall Street Journal reports. That surprise move came as the speaker of Iran's parliament announced yesterday that...

Mortars Hit Iran Dissident Camp in Iraq

Iraqis protested earlier this month to shut camp and boot exiles

(Newser) - Two mortars have hit an Iranian dissident camp inside Iraqi borders. It's unclear if any of the exiles were killed or injured in the attack just days after Iraq reached an agreement with United Nations to extend a deadline to shut the camp and relocate the 3,000 people...

UN: Syria Now a &#39;Civil War&#39;
 UN: Syria Now a 'Civil War' 

UN: Syria Now a 'Civil War'

Because so many soldiers are defecting army

(Newser) - Words that describe the situation in Syria: conflict, uprising, revolt ... civil war? The latter now applies, according to the UN's top human rights official. Navi Pillay today said that more than 4,000 people are dead, though "really the information coming to us is that it's much...

UN: Syrian Forces Killed, Tortured 256 Children

Human Rights Council adds to pressure on President Assad

(Newser) - A UN investigation concluded today that Syrian forces committed crimes against humanity by killing and torturing hundreds of children, including a 2-year-old girl reportedly shot to death so she wouldn't grow up to be a demonstrator. The inquiry added to mounting international pressure on President Bashar Assad, a day...

New AIDS Cases Hit Plateau: UN

But number newly treated lags behind number newly infected

(Newser) - New cases of AIDS have held steady over the past five years at 2.7 million per year—but only about half of those newly infected people are seeking treatment, the United Nations’ AIDS agency says. About 1.35 million people, or one for every two new cases, started treatment...

Arab League Gives Syria 3 Days
 Arab League Gives Syria 3 Days 

Arab League Gives Syria 3 Days

Assad must accept its peace plan, let monitors in

(Newser) - The Arab League has given Syria three more days to implement its peace plan, offering to send monitors to the country to ensure the bloodshed has stopped, in what amounts to a temporary reprieve from Saturday’s decision to suspend the country . But Qatar’s foreign minister insisted that sanctions...

Israel Punishing Palestinians With Rushed Settlements

Funds also frozen after Palestine's UNESCO membership

(Newser) - Palestine's membership in UNESCO has met a fierce response from Israel. A day after Palestine joined the United Nations' cultural body , Israel ordered the accelerated construction of 2,000 new homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. In what officials acknowledge is punishment for "unilateral actions,"...

Palestine Named Member of UN Cultural Body

Controversial move prompts cheers at UNESCO

(Newser) - Palestine became a full member of UNESCO today, in a highly divisive move that the United States and other opponents say could harm renewed Mideast peace efforts. US lawmakers had threatened to withhold roughly $80 million in annual funding to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization if it...

7-Billionth Babies Born: Danica in Philippines, Nargis in India
 Meet Baby No. 7 Billion 

Meet Baby No. 7 Billion

UN, activists pick representatives for population landmark

(Newser) - The world’s 7 billionth baby has been born, and a number of infants are vying for the title. The UN has chosen Danica May Camacho—born in Manila, Philippines, just before midnight—as its symbolic No. 7 billion, the Guardian reports. UN officials offered Danica’s family a cake...

UN: Solitary Confinement Amounts to Torture

Isolation longer than 15 days should be banned, says lead investigator

(Newser) - Solitary confinement doesn't just sound like torture—it literally can be torture, according to the UN's lead investigator on the topic. Juan Mendez has called for a ban on solitary confinement in excess of 15 days, and a total ban on the practice when juveniles or people with...

Afghanistan Routinely Tortures Prisoners: UN

'Even stones confess here,' one guard said; Kabul promises reform

(Newser) - A UN investigation has uncovered “a compelling pattern … of systemic torture and ill-treatment” in Afghan prisons, with prisoners reporting being beaten and shocked with electrical cables, hung by their hands, and having their genitals twisted until they passed out, the New York Times reports. Nearly half of all...

1 in 50 Central American Men Murdered by Age 31: UN

Situation is nearing a 'crisis point'

(Newser) - This is basically insane: A new UN report says that one in 50 Central American 20-year-old men will be murdered before they turn 31. Unsurprisingly, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime says the situation is nearing a "crisis point." The report places much of the blame on...

Palestine Bid for UNESCO Membership Moves Forward

Initial approval granted yesterday

(Newser) - Palestine's bid for statehood took one step forward yesterday as it gained initial approval for full membership in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Membership in UNESCO would allow Palestine to apply to protect its monuments and historical sites as World Heritage Sites, which would increase conflict...

Fidel Castro Accuses US of Genocide in Libya

Former Cuban leader calls Obama's UN speech 'gibberish'

(Newser) - One person who is not a fan of the US intervention in Libya: Fidel Castro. The former Cuban leader spoke out against President Obama's address to the UN in an opinion column published on a Cuban government website today, calling it "gibberish" and referring to NATO’s actions...

Libyan Forces Fight for Gadhafi's Hometown

New leaders promise interim government in coming week

(Newser) - With NATO jets roaring overhead, revolutionary forces fought their way into Moammar Gadhafi's hometown today in the first significant push into the stubborn stronghold in about a week. Libya's new leaders also tried to move on the political front, promising to announce in the coming week a new...

Palestinians Request UN Membership

Abbas makes formal appeal to UN chief Ban Ki-Moon

(Newser) - Defying US and Israeli opposition, Palestinians asked the United Nations today to accept them as a member state. In his letter accompanying the application, Mahmoud Abbas asked UN chief Ban Ki-moon to immediately forward the request for full UN membership to the Security Council. Action on the membership request could...

Jon Stewart Steps Up for Palestine

One strategy: Change name to 'Palestein'

(Newser) - On last night’s Daily Show , Jon Stewart summarized the US response to Palestine seeking UN membership: To win a seat, “all you need to do is settle your differences with Israel!” Though a “spelling change” could also help--instead of “Palestine,” how about “Palestein”...

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