UNITED NATIONS - The 15-member Security Council, the only UN body wielding power to impose mandatory sanctions on the organization's 192 member states, is unable to help contain two ongoing crises primarily because of threatened vetoes by China and the United States....
Iraq’s Chairing of UN Rights Committee Faulted
UNITED NATIONS - The 191-member General Assembly is expected to elect Iraq as chair of a key UN committee dealing with human rights and social development. But the proposed election comes at a time when both the United Nations and several human rights organizations...
US Promises Sri Lanka Aid Against Tamil Tigers
UNITED NATIONS - As the four-year-old cease-fire in Sri Lanka is on the verge of crumbling, the United States has offered to strengthen its military assistance programs and increase training for government forces if the country's rebel group resumes its separatist war...
UN Probes Peacekeeping Contracts Fraud
UNITED NATIONS - Amid charges of waste, fraud, and malfeasance in its multi-billion-dollar peacekeeping operations, the United Nations has suspended one contractor and eight staff members pending further investigations into potential wrongdoing. The focus of the...
Iran’s Nuclear Dispute Sparks East-West Rivalry
At the height of the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s, the United States and the former Soviet Union jealously safeguarded their own global political and military interests by vetoing each other's resolutions in the most powerful body at the United Nations: the...
Despite Growing Scandal, UN Chief Refuses to Yield
UNITED NATIONS - A beleaguered UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Thursday stood his ground despite charges of corruption, inefficiency, and mismanagement of the $34 billion now-defunct Iraqi oil-for-food program run by the UN secretariat, which he administers. Asked if...
Asia, Eastern Europe Head for Showdown Over New UN Chief
UNITED NATIONS - When UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was asked recently about his likely successor when he completes his second five-year term next year, the UN chief hinted at the possibility that an Asian might take over from him. "Yes, it is true that the...
US Ramps Up Arms Supplies to Repressive Regimes
The United States has accelerated arms sales to some of the world's most repressive and undemocratic regimes since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, according to a new report from leading arms trade researchers. The report, from the Arms Trade...
UN Security Council Expansion Thrown into Disarray – Again
UNITED NATIONS – The proposed expansion of the 15-member UN Security Council has been thrown into disarray once again – this time by a spirited political campaign to block the permanent membership of Japan, Germany, India, and Brazil. The campaign is being...
Saudis Break New Ground Eyeing Russian Weapons
UNITED NATIONS – Saudi Arabia, a traditionally authoritarian regime that recently held the first Western-style local elections in its 73-year history, is trying to break new ground by turning to Russia for arms purchases. As one of the world's biggest single...