A United Nations panel has said killing of tens of thousands of people in the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil strife could amount to "war crimes", but Secretary General Ban Ki-moon insisted he would only launch an international investigation if Colombo agrees or member states call for it.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor recently made his first foray to the United Nations -- where he had served for more than two decades as Under Secretary General of Communications -- over two-and-a-half years after his unsuccessful bid for the position of UN Secretary General.
In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the President of the UN Security Council Ruhakana Rugunda, Israel accused an Indian contingent of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) of having done nothing to prevent the demonstrators from crossing the border and even cooperating with the group, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The former UN refugee chief takes over from Ban Ki-moon on January 1.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has promised the United Nations that his forces would protect Tamil civilians as it pushes ahead with its offensive to defeat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Rajapaksa gave this assurance over telephone to UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon, as his forces overran the last base of the sea Tigers near Mulaittivu, cutting off all their escape routes.
Stating that he wanted to make a solid contribution to the country of his origin, Tharoor said it was too late for him to emerge as a politician from the grassroots.
The United Nations on Thursday recalled its top envoy to Sri Lanka and closed down an office in Colombo following angry protests against a UN panel which was set up to probe allegations of war crime during the country's civil war.
China has backed Sri Lanka in its opposition to the setting up of a human rights panel by the United Nations to look into alleged rights abuses during the ethnic war, saying the government was capable of handling it.
India handed over a letter to the president of the Security Council, formally withdrawing Tharoor's candidature, officials said.
The director was seen in a relaxed mood after a 45-minute meeting over the Sudan's Darfur conflict, with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the United Nations Headquarters.
United Nations chief Ban Ki Moon on Friday came out strongly in support of the Nobel Peace Prize for United States President Barack Obama and termed the Norwegian Committee's decision 'a very wise' one. "The Nobel Peace Committee has made their decision, and this should be respected, and I wholeheartedly support it," he told journalists. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said, "He has done nothing for peace in Afghanistan. We condemn the award."
The 20-page report on the island nation covering the period from November 2006 to September 2007, notes that 'both parties have failed to cease the abduction, recruitment and use of children.'
The council's appeal came in a presidential statement at the end of a day-long discussion on crimes against women.
Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win, in a letter sent to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Friday, confirmed his nation had agreed to the visit by Paolo Sergio Pinheiro, the S-G's Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar. The announcement comes as Ibrahim Gambari, UN's Special Envoy for Myanmar, continued his consultations with the troubled country's neighbours and regional partners ahead of a planned return trip to Myanmar next month.
The international body is rushing food and assistance amounting to $1 million
The perpetrators appear to have used a well-known and highly preventable technique called SQL injection, which takes advantage of flawed database programming to activate malicious lines of code.
A successful election is the central element of the country's democratisation process, the UN stressed.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has sent his Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar, a veteran Indian diplomat, to Colombo to speak with the government there about the humanitarian situation in war zones of Sri Lanka's north and to express the world body's concern over the matter.
The rich world continues to give lectures on energy conservation. But what is it doing itself?
Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has been selected as a member of the United Nations' high-level panel on global sustainability.
The three-member international commission that the United Nations plans to appoint to probe the assassination of former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto will be a fact-finding panel and will not carry out any criminal investigation. In a letter to the Security Council released on Thursday, Secretary-General Ban ki Moon said the life of the commission will be of six months. "You will note that the commission's mandate would be of a limited duration (a maximum of six months).
The UN says that if permission is granted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and if a lull in fighting permits, the convoy will cross the frontline on Thursday noon, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson said.
The US asked the Sri Lankan government to "take advantage" of the opportunity and accept an offer of a UN team that is probing alleged human rights abuses in the final months of the war with the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam. The UN on Tuesday announced that Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon had set up a three-member panel to look into alleged human rights violations during the final stages of the war against the LTTE in Sri Lanka.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who arrived in Japan on Monday to attend the G-8 summit, met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to discuss various issues listed on the summit's agenda, including the climate change which tops it.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Sunday vowed to work towards a world free of weapons of mass destruction noting that there is a 'new window of opportunity for disarmament and non-proliferation.'
Against the backdrop of Pakistan's opposition to American drone strikes, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said the pilotless aircraft should be used only for gathering intelligence.
In a bid to boost their bilateral ties, India and South Korea on Wednesday decided to step up efforts to take their economic partnership to a higher level by utilising synergies in trade, investment and hi-tech areas.
The Paris climate change agreement is a victory for climate justice, India has said.
Ms Swaraj was a conscientious woman who understood suffering and pathos and attempted in her inimitable way to mitigate them, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
A special United Nations envoy to Crimea, who was threatened by 10 to 15 armed men, is safe and will return to Ukrainian capital Kiev to continue his mission, the United Nations has said.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday pledged to respond with "restraint and responsibility" to the situation at the Line of Control, saying there is a need for more diplomacy to achieve peace.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday left for New York where she is going to participate in the International Yoga Day event being organised by the Indian Mission at the United Nations.
Across the world rallies were held to draw attention to climate change ahead of a United Nations summit in New York.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during which he referred to raising of the Kashmir issue by his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif while implying that the global body was not the right forum to discuss it.
India has announced $12 million (Rs 73 crore) contribution to the United Nations to help it fight the deadly Ebola virus in the African continent.
Appalled by the brutal rape and murder of two teenaged girls in India, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has demanded action against sexual violence and appealed to the society to reject the destructive attitude of "boys will be boys".
Ban Ki-moon calls on the governments of India and Pakistan to address their "outstanding issues, including regarding Kashmir, peacefully through diplomacy and dialogue". The statement added that Ban's good offices are available to India and Pakistan, if "accepted by both sides".
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