UN General Assembly

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On Obama's Agenda: Historic Handshake?

It could happen today with Iranian President Hasan Rouhani

(Newser) - Today could bring what Time describes as the most historic handshake since "Nixon and Elvis" (or, more seriously, "Rabin and Arafat"): President Obama and new Iranian President Hasan Rouhani will meet for the first time at the UN General Assembly today, and everyone from government officials to...

UN General Assembly Recognizes Palestine

Group elevates Palestinians' status over objections of US, Israel

(Newser) - The United Nations voted overwhelmingly today to recognize a Palestinian state, a long-sought victory for the Palestinians but an embarrassing diplomatic defeat for the United States. The resolution upgrading the Palestinians' status to a nonmember observer state at the United Nations (on par with the Vatican) was approved by a...

Netanyahu Will Push UN for Iran 'Red Line'

Mahmoud Abbas delivers speech today, too

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had his turn in front of the UN General Assembly yesterday, and today is Benjamin Netanyahu's. The Israeli prime minister will press for a "clear red line" on Iran and its nuclear ambitions, Reuters reports. Though some Israelis were disappointed that President Obama didn't issue...

Ahmadinejad Blasts 'Hegemony of Arrogance'

But UN speech is unusually subdued

(Newser) - The US and Israel boycotted Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at the UN today, but it was actually a fairly low-key offering by the Iranian president's standards. In what will likely be his last speech before the general assembly, Ahmadinejad blamed the "current abysmal situation of the world" on...

Ahmadinejad: In 'New Order,' We'll All Be Equal

And that whole nuclear program thing is a non-issue

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continued his media blitz yesterday, giving the AP an interview in which he touched on all the usual topics: Israel, Iran's nuclear ambitions, Syria. The subject closest to his heart, however, was the "new order" he envisions—in which, surprise, surprise, the US plays a lesser...

Jets Scramble After Planes Violate UN Airspace

Incident occurred around the time of Obama's speech

(Newser) - Two fighter jets scrambled today after two small aircraft violated airspace restrictions in place for the UN General Assembly gathering of world leaders close to the time President Obama was speaking. North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesman John Cornelio said the F-22s intercepted the small planes during two separate incidents...

US Hostage's Wife Appeals to Ahmadinejad

And Iranian president sits down with CNN

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in town, and the wife of a former FBI agent taken hostage in Iran in 2007 is taking advantage of that fact. The Iranian president "has said that he will investigate and he will have his people investigate," says Christine Levinson, whose husband, Robert, is...

Morsi: US, Egypt Could Be 'Real Friends'

But it's up to America to repair damaged relations in region

(Newser) - Egypt's first democratically elected leader is headed to New York for his first official visit to the United States, and Mohammed Morsi tells the New York Times that he envisions his nation and Washington could be "real friends," though he tacitly acknowledges real tensions exist at the...

UN Condemns Syrian Assault
 UN Condemns Syrian Assault 
Aug 3, 2012 2:35 PM CDT

UN Condemns Syrian Assault

Symbolic resolution passes by overwhelming margin

(Newser) - The UN General Assembly gave Syria a fierce, albeit entirely symbolic, rebuke today for the violent crackdown on dissent that has plunged the country into a civil war. The Assembly voted 133-12 in favor of a resolution condemning the violence, with 31 abstaining, the AP reports. "The conflict in...

UN to Syria President: Time to Go

Russia, China vote against General Assembly resolution

(Newser) - The UN General Assembly has voted to support an Arab League call for Syria's Bashar al-Assad to quit as president. The assembly voted 137-12 for the resolution, which isn't legally binding but is a barometer of international opinion, the AP notes. Seventeen countries abstained from voting, while Russia...

Arab League Gives Syria 3 Days
 Arab League Gives Syria 3 Days 
Nov 17, 2011 7:25 AM CST

Arab League Gives Syria 3 Days

Assad must accept its peace plan, let monitors in

(Newser) - The Arab League has given Syria three more days to implement its peace plan, offering to send monitors to the country to ensure the bloodshed has stopped, in what amounts to a temporary reprieve from Saturday’s decision to suspend the country . But Qatar’s foreign minister insisted that sanctions...

Fidel Castro Accuses US of Genocide in Libya

Former Cuban leader calls Obama's UN speech 'gibberish'

(Newser) - One person who is not a fan of the US intervention in Libya: Fidel Castro. The former Cuban leader spoke out against President Obama's address to the UN in an opinion column published on a Cuban government website today, calling it "gibberish" and referring to NATO’s actions...

Palestinians to Buck US, Seek Statehood

They hope it'll strengthen negotiating position with Israel

(Newser) - Barring some kind of last-minute diplomatic magic trick, Mahmoud Abbas will ask the UN Security Council for membership next week, the Palestinian foreign minister said today—even as US diplomats traveled to the West Bank for last-ditch negotiating efforts. “We will see if anyone carries … any credible offer,...

UN Issues Fresh Call to End Cuba Embargo

Resolution passes for 19th year in a row

(Newser) - The United Nations has, for the 19th year in a row, passed a resolution to drop its longstanding economic embargo against Cuba. The resolution, once again, passed by an overwhelming majority, with 187 nations voting in favor of it and only the US and Israel voting against it, CNN reports....

Obama Calls Ahmadinejad's Speech 'Offensive'

Especially because he made it so close to Ground Zero

(Newser) - Barack Obama was definitely not a fan of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s UN speech , in which he called for an inquiry into 9/11 conspiracy theories. “It was offensive. It was hateful,” Obama told the BBC today. “Especially for him to make the statement here in Manhattan, just a...

Obama Pressures China on Currency

Prez says he'll take action to protect US interests if yuan isn't revalued

(Newser) - President Obama has threatened to get tough with China if it doesn't hurry up and revalue its artificially low currency. The president spent most of a 2-hour meeting with Wen Jiabao yesterday pressuring the Chinese premier on the yuan issue, sending the message that "if the Chinese don’t...

US Walks Out on Ahmadinejad Speech

He again floats 9/11 conspiracy theories

(Newser) - The US delegation walked out of the UN speech of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today after he yet again speculated that the US staged the 9/11 attacks to boost the economy and save the "Zionist regime" of Israel. Ahmadinejad has "chosen to spout vile conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic slurs that...

Islamic States Want UN to Condemn Koran Burning

Resolution sees a worldwide problem

(Newser) - Pakistan and other Islamic states pushed for a resolution at the UN today to condemn a small-time US pastor's threat to burn the Koran, Reuters reports. Terry Jones' proposition is part of a pattern of "instances of intolerance, discrimination, profiling and acts of violence against Muslims occurring in many...

Ahmadinejad Threatens 'War Without Boundaries'

Iranian president promises retaliation for attacks on nuclear sites

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatened a war with "no boundaries" if Western powers attack potential Iranian nuclear sites, ABC News reports. While in New York for a meeting of the UN General Assembly, the Iranian president again said his country would soon become a nuclear power, adding that the US and...

NY Welcomes Ahmadinejad... With Protests

Paterson, Gillibrand head up demonstrations

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is getting a rousing welcome to the Big Apple this week, but not in a nice way: Several of New York's top politicians are protesting Ahmadinejad's regime while he attends a UN General Assembly meeting, reports the AP. Among them, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and David Paterson, who denounces...

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