Contents: United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur Sudan to be cut almost in half; Violence continues as before in Darfur; Brief generational history of the Darfur civil war in Sudan
Critics of the Iranian nuclear deal charged that the Obama administration was not sufficiently concerned with how Iran would spend the money from its post-sanctions windfall. Evidently, departing President Obama and his team thought domestic political pressures would oblige the Iranian government to invest more heavily in constructive economic pursuits.
Contents: New armed militia emerges in Central African Republic: Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation (3R); Central African Republic crisis war continues to spin out of control
Contents: Russia and Japan fail to agree on ending World War II; Former UN leader Ban Ki-moon may run for president of South Korea
The incoming United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres from Portugal, believes the intergovernmental organization needs to be more efficient and effective and less bureaucratic.
I have long said that President Obama’s greatest failure as a leader is his refusal to hate and condemn evil. Could there be any greater confirmation than his strange statement about Fidel Castro, just six weeks before he leaves office?
Contents: Japan’s troops in South Sudan become first test of new ‘collective self-defense’ policy; United Nations warns of mass atrocities in South Sudan
Contents: African nations furious over possible collapse of climate change agreement; The ‘science’ of climate change
Before Friday, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte had established a reputation as the most potty-mouthed head of state in the world. Insulting diplomats, presidents, and priests in equal measure, Duterte had shown a complete lack of diplomatic tact during his short tenure, beginning in June.
In striking language, Pope Francis said Wednesday that those responsible for the bombardment of Aleppo—conducted for days by Syrian and Russian forces—will be called to a reckoning before God for their actions.
Contents: Russian warplanes drop phosphorus bombs and bunker buster bombs on Aleppo; Comparisons of Syria civil war to Sri Lanka civil war; US, UK, UN officials accuse Syria and Russia of barbarism and war crimes
During a UN Security Council crisis meeting on Sunday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared himself “appalled” by the Syrian government’s massive attack on Aleppo, saying it “brings the violence to new levels of barbarity.”
Syrian and Russian warplanes pounded rebel-held east Aleppo on Sunday ahead of a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the worst surge in violence to hit the devastated city in years.
Contents: Warplanes target and bomb humanitarian aid convoy near Aleppo in Syria; Led by the US, more people are openly expressing total disgust with Bashar al-Assad’s depravity
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used his final address Tuesday to the General Assembly, after ten years in office, to blame Israel for the failed Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Ban said nothing about Palestinian terrorism, war or incitement in his speech.
Contents: Darfur in Sudan facing new genocide as refugees are expelled from camps; Generational history of the Darfur war
Shortly after President Barack Obama set wheels down Saturday in Hangzhou, China his National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice, members of his entourage, and the press corps tangled with Chinese officials both on the flight line and at the West Lake State House minutes before Obama’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jingpin.
In anticipation of the two leaders meeting next week, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte once again asserted he would not allow President Barack Obama to lecture him on human rights, citing the killing of unarmed black people in the United States and Hollywood’s allegedly pervasive cocaine problem.
TEL AVIV – Confronting the U.S. is the only choice Iran has left, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani warned Wednesday.
Iran’s ballistic missile launches “are not consistent with the constructive spirit” of a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, but it is up to the United Nations Security Council to decide if they violated a resolution, U.N. chief Ban
TEL AVIV – A UN school in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday covered up a map showing the whole of the State of Israel as “historic Palestine” ahead of a visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The UN must rid itself of anti-Israel bias and engage honestly with Israelis, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee members Michael Oren (Kulanu) and Omer Bar-Lev (Zionist Union) wrote in a letter to visiting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon Tuesday.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged Israelis and Palestinians not to allow extremists on either side to fan violence, as he arrived as part of a Middle East tour.
Contents: UAE backs out of Saudi coalition in Yemen, saying ‘War is over’; Saudi Arabia is condemned for Yemen’s humanitarian disaster
U.S.-backed fighters in Syria converged from three sides on an Islamic State stronghold near the Turkish border Thursday, while Iraqi special forces pushed deeper into Fallujah, one of the last bastions of the militant group in western Iraq.
“Deeply saddened” by the loss of hundreds of lives of migrants trying to reach Europe by sea, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has praised the joint rescue operations of Italian and European forces, while calling for “a comprehensive and collective response” as well as “expanded legal pathways” for migrants to enter Europe.
After months under some of the harshest UN sanctions in history, North Korea is pushing to bring its biggest rivals, South Korea and the United States, to the negotiating table.
Contents: With Turkey already in chaos, Erdogan forces PM Davutoglu to resign; Davutoglu’s resignation may complicate the EU-Turkey migrant deal; Syria and Russia continue ‘Grozny Model,’ killing women and children in Aleppo refugee camp
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has surfaced, once again to lecture the Anglosphere and the Western world about its “duties” to hurriedly absorb nearly half a million more Syrian migrants. The war-torn country’s surrounding nations, he argues, have done
(Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all countries on Wednesday to show solidarity and accept nearly half a million Syrian refugees for resettlement over the next three years. Ban, kicking off a ministerial conference hosted by the U.N.
Contents: North Korea liquidates all commercial projects with South Korea; In desperation move, European Central Bank further lowers negative interest rates; ECB tries to target the velocity of money
Despite complaints of violations from all sides, and some ominous comments from faction leaders, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon insisted on Monday that the Syrian cease-fire is holding “by and large.”
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition have accused each other of breaking a three-day ceasefire imposed to help end the five-year civil war.
Contents: Bulldozers bury the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais France; Russian and Syrian war crimes are ‘weaponizing’ the refugee crisis for Europe
The much-heralded “cessation of hostilities” in Syria does not seem to be holding up very well, as the Syrian opposition claims at least 15 violations so far.
