United Nations

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One of the World's Most Celebrated Diplomats Is Dead

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was 80

(Newser) - Kofi Annan, one of the world's most celebrated diplomats and a charismatic symbol of the United Nations who rose through its ranks to become the first black African secretary-general, has died. He was 80. His foundation announced his death in Switzerland on Saturday in a tweet , saying he died... More »

Report: US Tried to Block Breastfeeding Resolution

Smaller countries were bullied, insiders say

(Newser) - A World Health Assembly meeting that had been expected to easily pass a resolution promoting breastfeeding turned ugly when the Trump administration got involved, reports the New York Times , citing "more than a dozen participants from several countries." The sources say that the American delegation to the United... More »

UN Calls Trump's Move on Border Separations a Fail

And says in some cases the separations may amount to 'torture'

(Newser) - The United Nations had already called the separations of immigrant children from their parents at the US border "arbitrary and unlawful," and now the intergovernmental group is labeling them something else: possible torture. Per the Independent , the UN's human rights arm issued a statement Friday noting that... More »

WHO's Newest Mental Health Disorder: Obsessive Gaming

But parents shouldn't freak out just yet

(Newser) - The World Health Organization says some obsessive video gamers may actually have an addiction. In its latest revision to a disease classification manual, the UN health agency said Monday that compulsively playing video games now qualifies as a mental health condition, per the AP . WHO said classifying "gaming disorder"... More »

Haley: 'Russia Is Responsible for the Attack'

UN ambassador comes to defense of Great Britain after nerve agent attack

(Newser) - Nikki Haley came out strong against Russia and in support of the United Kingdom on Wednesday following the nerve agent attack that left a former Russian spy and his adult daughter in critical condition in England, CNN reports. "The United States believes that Russia is responsible for the attack,... More »

North Korea Shipped Weapons to Syria, Myanmar: Report

Confidential UN report also states it made $200M off banned coal exports in 2017

(Newser) - North Korea made nearly $200 million last year by violating UN sanctions and shipping coal to multiple countries, according to an exclusive Reuters report. But that's not all. A confidential report prepared by independent UN monitors and seen by Reuters on Friday also states North Korea supplied weapons—including... More »

UN Peacekeepers Again Accused of Raping Kids

Advocates say little progress has been made in Central African Republic

(Newser) - The UN publicly maintains a zero tolerance policy on sexual abuse. Less publicly, it stands by as peacekeepers rape women and children in the Central African Republic, victims and human rights organizations allege. Four years after UN peacekeepers were first accused of rape in the country following a decade of... More »

Haley to UN: We Just Cut $285M From Your Budget

Trump administration accuses UN of 'inefficiency and overspending'

(Newser) - The Trump administration is apparently still stewing about the UN's vote on Jerusalem last week. Ambassador Nikki Haley issued a stark statement tying US financial support of the UN with whether it met US demands—the fourth time in a week's time the US has done so, the... More »

North Korea Calls New Sanctions an 'Act of War'

UN Security Council will 'pay heavy price'

(Newser) - North Korea now considers itself at war with all 15 members of the United Nations Security Council, according to a blistering statement issued after the council unanimously approved tough new sanctions . The country's foreign minister described the latest round of sanctions as an "act of war" that was... More »

Just How Big an Insult Was the UN's Jerusalem Vote?

The vote was 128-9 in favor of a resolution that demands decision be rescinded

(Newser) - "The US will be taking names," Nikki Haley warned Wednesday ahead of the UN General Assembly's Thursday vote on whether to reject President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. It has a lot of names to take: The vote was 128-9 in... More »

Nikki Haley Warns Nations Ahead of UN Vote

US 'will be taking names' of those who criticize American decision on Jerusalem

(Newser) - Consider it a not-so-veiled threat. The UN General Assembly votes Thursday on whether to reject President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and US Ambassador Nikki Haley is warning that the US will be paying very close attention. "When we make a decision, at... More »

In North Korea, a Visit That Hasn't Happened in 6 Years

A top UN official hasn't been to the country since October 2011

(Newser) - The last time a senior UN official stepped foot in North Korea was in October 2011. That changed Tuesday, with United Nations undersecretary-general for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman's visit to the country. The BBC reports Pyongyang proffered the invitation in September but confirmation of the visit didn't come... More »

US, Israel Working to Prevent Publication of 'Blacklist'

List will name over 100 companies doing business in West Bank settlements

(Newser) - Weeks ahead of the expected completion of a UN database of companies that operate in Israel's West Bank settlements, Israel and the Trump Administration are working feverishly to prevent its publication, the AP reports. While Israel is usually quick to brush off UN criticism, officials say they are taking... More »

Jihadist Attack Kills 3 UN Peacekeepers

Malian soldier was also killed

(Newser) - Suspected jihadists attacked UN peacekeepers carrying out an operation with Malian defense forces Friday killing at least three peacekeepers from Niger and one Malian soldier, and injuring 14 soldiers and one civilian, UN authorities and the Security Council said. The UN mission reported that at least three assailants were killed... More »

UN Diplomat Dies in Alleged Trust Game Gone Wrong

Australia's Julian Simpson fell from Manhattan balcony Wednesday

(Newser) - "Let's play the trust game" and "I will prove that you can trust me," Australia's second secretary to the United Nations reportedly told his friend as he leaned back over a railing, some 70 feet above a Manhattan street. The words were among the last... More »

North Korea: US Ramping Up Threat of Nuclear War

Three US aircraft carrier groups are in the western Pacific for the first time in a decade

(Newser) - North Korea says the unprecedented deployment of three US aircraft carrier groups "taking up a strike posture" around the Korean peninsula is making it impossible to predict when nuclear war will break out, the AP reports. North Korea's UN ambassador, Ja Song Nam, said in a letter to... More »

UN Zaps Hunger Report on Myanmar, Raising Suspicions

'There was a real sense that they had things to hide'

(Newser) - A July report describing near starvation in Myanmar's Rakhine state has been expunged from the UN website—at Myanmar's request. Myanmar was upset with the report's claim that military forces were blocking access to food for the Rohingya even before a government crackdown led 537,000 to... More »

Why the US Is Withdrawing From UNESCO

State Department sees anti-Israel bias, also wants to keep back-dues bill from mounting

(Newser) - The US has long had dicey relations with the UN cultural organization UNESCO, and those relations have just taken another sour turn. The State Department announced Thursday that the US is pulling out of the organization at the end of next year, citing what it sees as an anti-Israel bias,... More »

How North Korea Sells Illegal Arms, Despite Sanctions

Capture of weapons cache in Egypt highlights how Pyongyang flouts UN

(Newser) - A major delivery of North Korean arms to Egypt last year was dashed only after American spies got wind of the illegal cache and, alerting officials in Cairo, essentially forced the US ally to seize the rickety ship. The dashed deal reveals the difficulty of stopping the illegal arms trade... More »

Eyes Turn to US Over UN Chief's 1961 Death

US, UK archives could hold crucial evidence in Dag Hammarskjold case: UN report

(Newser) - Conspiracy theories claiming the 1961 plane crash that killed UN chief Dag Hammarskjold was orchestrated by the US government and its allies have been circulating for years—and may have just gained some weight. A fresh investigation into the Swedish diplomat's death has uncovered a "significant amount of... More »

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