United Nations

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Israel Probes Phosphorus Use in Gaza
Israel Probes Phosphorus
Use in Gaza
Jan 21, 2009 10:17 AM CST

Israel Probes Phosphorus Use in Gaza

Admits deadly shells may have hit civilian areas, violating law

(Newser) - Under pressure from the international community, Israel has admitted its troops might have inappropriately used white phosphorus in attacks on Gaza, and has launched an investigation. International law only permits the caustic chemical for creating smokescreens in troop areas, which wouldn’t explain hits on United Nations facilities in Gaza,...

Mugabe Acknowledges Cholera Epidemic

(Newser) - Robert Mugabe has backtracked on his denial of the Zimbabwean cholera crisis, AFP reports. “He is acknowledging there is a problem,” said a UNICEF official who met with him today. “He recognizes there is a problem with the water and the sewer systems.” The admission comes...

Israel Shells UN Headquarters
 Israel Shells UN Headquarters 
Jan 15, 2009 6:51 AM CST

Israel Shells UN Headquarters

Offensive escalates even as ceasefire hopes rise

(Newser) - Israeli shells set fire to the UN’s relief agency headquarters and a hospital today, as Israeli tanks pushed deep into Gaza City, the BBC reports. Some 700 people were inside the compound, along with large amounts of fuel and aid supplies; at least three UN employees were injured. Secretary-General...

Olmert: I Made Condi Abstain on Gaza Vote

Israel PM claims he 'embarrassed' Rice in urgent call to Bush

(Newser) - Israel’s prime minister says an urgent call to President Bush last week resulted in Condoleezza Rice changing her vote on a UN Gaza resolution, the New York Times reports, with Ehud Olmert adding that the secretary of State “was left pretty embarrassed.” Rice helped draft the measure...

Mugabe Liable for Cholera Deaths: Report

(Newser) - Pressure from nonprofits and watchdogs is mounting on the UN to intercede in Zimbabwe’s humanitarian crisis, GlobalPost reports. Physicians for Human Rights asserts that Robert Mugabe intentionally dismantled the country’s health and sanitation infrastructure, and is directly responsible for the cholera outbreak that has claimed 1,800 lives....

UN Calls for Gaza War Crimes Probe
UN Calls for Gaza War Crimes Probe
Jan 10, 2009 2:34 AM CST

UN Calls for Gaza War Crimes Probe

Rights official accuses Israel of ignoring international law

(Newser) - The UN's top human rights official has called for an investigation into possible war crimes committed by the Israeli military in Gaza, the Guardian reports. She singled out an incident this week where up to 30 Palestinian civilians were killed in a home shelled by Israeli forces and the surviving...

Israel Rebuffs UN, May Call in Reservists

Cabinet mulls new phase to offensive as bombs rain on Gaza

(Newser) - Israel pushed ahead with its military operation in Gaza today, despite a unanimous Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. On the 14th day of the offensive, warplanes bombed the outskirts of Gaza City and tanks shelled a house in the north of the Strip, killing six Palestinians from...

UN Halts Gaza Aid, Citing Israeli Attacks

(Newser) - The United Nations today halted all aid deliveries to the besieged Gaza Strip, citing a series of Israeli attacks on UN staff and installations. The announcement came shortly after the driver of a UN truck was killed by tank fire as he was headed to an Israeli border crossing to...

UN: No Militants in Shelled School

Mortar may have been fired from nearby grove

(Newser) - The UN says it found no evidence to support claims there were militants inside the UN-run school Israeli forces fired on yesterday in Gaza, killing 40 civilians and injuring 55 more, Time reports. Israeli Defense Forces “returned fire,” a spokesman said, after militants fired mortars from inside the...

Israeli Strike Hits UN School, Kills 30

30 killed, UN official calls for stop to hostilities

(Newser) - At least 30 Palestinians were killed and several dozen more wounded today when Israeli tanks shelled a UN-run school in the Gaza Strip, MSNBC reports. Medical officials said those killed were all either local residents, or among the hundreds seeking refuge from the assault in the school. “There’s...

US Blocks UN Call for Gaza Truce
US Blocks UN Call
for Gaza Truce
Jan 4, 2009 7:04 AM CST

US Blocks UN Call for Gaza Truce

Americans want Hamas labeled 'terrorist'

(Newser) - The US has blocked Libya’s push to issue a UN Security Council call for a Gaza ceasefire, Reuters reports. Libya, the only Arab member of the council, had circulated a draft statement expressing "serious concern"  and urging all parties to "observe an immediate ceasefire." American...

Rwandan Genocide Mastermind Convicted

Bagosora sentenced to life by UN court for role in 1994 massacre

(Newser) - A UN court has convicted the organizer of the 1994 Rwandan genocide that claimed more than 500,000 lives and sentenced him to life in prison, reports the AP. Théoneste Bagosora was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity, as well as the deaths of a Rwandan prime...

Founder of Mumbai Terror Group Under House Arrest

Pakistan also freezes organization's assets

(Newser) - Bowing to global pressure to curb terrorist activities inside its borders, Pakistan today placed the founder of the group thought to be responsible for the Mumbai attacks under house arrest, Reuters reports. Pakistani police encircled the house of Hafiz Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba group and head of its charity...

Bush Helps Shield Iraq From Gulf War Legal Claims

Compensation could bankrupt country, it says; Americans hurt by Saddam differ

(Newser) - President Bush has wedged himself between Americans and Iraq by supporting a UN measure that stops financial claims against the fledgling democracy. Iraq faces bankruptcy if claims are added to $26 billion it already owes companies and individuals who suffered in the first Gulf war. But the temporary plug keeps...

UN Report Finds Nearly 1B Are Hungry
UN Report
Finds Nearly
1B Are Hungry
Dec 10, 2008 12:54 PM CST

UN Report Finds Nearly 1B Are Hungry

Cost of basics is down, but still 28% higher than just 2 years ago

(Newser) - Rising food prices have pushed the number of people going hungry to 963 million, or 14% of the world's population, says a UN report published yesterday. Though costs have dropped from historic peaks, basics still cost 28% more than in 2006. That's left 40 million more people undernourished this year,...

Cancer Will Be World's No. 1 Killer in 2010

(Newser) - Cancer will surpass heart disease as the world’s preeminent killer by 2010, Reuters reports. A WHO study concluded that cancer cases will double between 2000 and 2020, and almost triple by 2030, largely because of increased tobacco use in developing countries. In men, who are more likely to contract...

Team of Rivals Starting to Crack

Separate visits to State Dept by Rice, Clinton suggest competition

(Newser) - Separate visits to the State Department by Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice yesterday suggest that the rift between Barack Obama’s two highest-level diplomats may not have healed, reports the AP. Rice, the incoming UN ambassador, bucked her former Clinton administration bosses to support Obama in the primaries. Now she’...

Hit Pirates With Somalia Blockade
 Hit Pirates With 
 Somalia Blockade 
OPINION
Dec 4, 2008 12:18 PM CST

Hit Pirates With Somalia Blockade

Policing them where they hold their prey is more effective than ocean patrols

(Newser) - The Somali pirates terrorizing shipping lanes are clever, Peter Fromuth writes in the Washington Post, but their biggest advantages are those pirates have enjoyed throughout history: “big seas, many prey, and few protectors.” There are too many targets for warships to mount effective patrols on open waters. Instead,...

Army Deserter Seeks Asylum in Germany

AWOL soldier says Iraqi war violates international law

(Newser) - Specialist André Shepherd has become the first US military deserter to apply for political asylum in Germany, Der Spiegel reports. Shepherd, who disobeyed orders to redeploy to Iraq from Germany in the spring of 2007, argues in his petition that the Iraq war violates international law. "If I carried...

A Very Different Rice to be UN Ambassador

Obama will raise post to Cabinet, appoint anti-genocide crusader

(Newser) - Barack Obama will name Susan Rice as his UN ambassador when he unveils his foreign policy team today, the New York Times reports. Rice (no relation to Condoleezza), was an assistant secretary of state under Bill Clinton, but has been an Obama adviser since the beginning. She’s an advocate...

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