Betsy Pisik

Burma summit unable to agree on reform steps

A year after the Burmese government violently cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators, its neighbors and key foreign countries are still unable to agree on how to encourage reforms by the nation's ruling generals.

September 28, 2008

No new sanctions imposed on Iran

A new Security Council resolution calls on Iran to "comply fully, without delay" with U.N. watchdog demands but, in deference to Russia, does not call for new sanctions against Tehran's nuclear enrichment program — a maneuver designed to signal council unity rather than compel any new action by Tehran.

September 27, 2008

Ban says he’s tired of U.N. bashing

On the eve of the annual meeting here of world leaders, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon complained that he is perceived as "invisible" and that neither he nor his organization gets enough credit for efforts to reform and to alleviate global ills.

September 22, 2008

Anti-Iran group opts to disinvite Palin

Organizers of Monday's protest against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have disinvited Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin from the event, saying her presence could overshadow their cause.

September 18, 2008

Anxiety palpable among brokers

So these two stockbrokers walk into a bar. They order drinks before they think about lunch, but they don't say anything funny.

September 17, 2008

U.N. seeks to define crimes

A daylong symposium focusing on the victims of terrorism Tuesday was supposed to be an apolitical event with an emphasis on healing, improving support services and combating a common scourge.

September 8, 2008

U.S. fights Islamic anti-defamation push

The Bush administration, European governments and religious rights organizations are mounting a new effort to defeat a U.N. resolution that demands respect for Islam but has been used to justify persecution of religious minorities.

September 2, 2008

Russia dismembers Georgia

Russia on Tuesday recognized the "independence" of two breakaway Georgian regions, responding to what Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin called "a completely new reality" and expanding de facto Russian territorial control for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

August 27, 2008

U.N. ‘good governance’ chief spared disciplinary actions

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has referred the U.N. "good governance" chief to the U.N. Disciplinary Committee, acting just two days before the official's retirement.

August 1, 2008

U.N. thermostat to be set higher

Everyone complains about climate change, and the United Nations is finally doing something about it - on Friday, the temperature inside U.N. headquarters in New York will rise by 5 degrees.

July 30, 2008

United Nations to raise thermostats

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who made global warming a top priority at the beginning of his five-year term, has ordered the U.N. to set its thermostats higher.

July 29, 2008

Exchange rate costs U.N. $10 million

Burma is forcing U.N. aid agencies to convert cash to local currency at below-market rates, costing the world body $10 million so far and drawing comparisons to the scandal-plagued U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq.

July 29, 2008

Democrats eye restoring funds to U.N. agency

UNITED NATIONS | Congress may have found a way to fund the U.N. Population Fund for the first time in seven years, with many lawmakers anticipating that the next U.S. president may have a different view of an organization accused by conservatives of abetting coerced abortion in the developing world.

July 27, 2008

Russia increases weapon sales to Chavez

Russia is showing its irritation with U.S. intervention in its back yard by selling more weapons to Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.

July 22, 2008

U.N. braces for retaliation after indictment

U.N. peacekeeping forces and humanitarian groups in Darfur are bracing for attacks from Sudanese forces and allied Janjaweed militias in retaliation for the indictment of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir issued Monday by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

July 15, 2008

Sudan president al-Bashir charged with genocide

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Monday morning asked for an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Lt. Gen. Omar al-Bashir, declaring the atrocities against civilians in Darfur to be genocide.

July 14, 2008

U.N. readies war crimes indictment of Bashir

Monday's expected indictment of Sudanese President Omar Bashir on charges of crimes against humanity could score points for justice even as it derails hopes for peace, U.N. diplomats and bureaucrats said this week.

July 12, 2008

U.S. push for sanctions sees U.N. opposition

The United States and its allies ran into a wall of opposition Thursday in an effort to impose new sanctions against Zimbabwe, with Russia, China and South Africa objecting.

July 11, 2008

7 U.N. troops die in ambush

Seven U.N. peacekeepers were killed and nearly two dozen injured in a "well-planned" ambush by Sudanese militias in northern Darfur, Sudan, U.N. officials said Wednesday.

July 10, 2008

Iran seeks seat on Security Council

Tehran will seek a seat on the powerful U.N. Security Council next year, despite the trade sanctions the body has imposed to slow Iran's nuclear program.

July 9, 2008