| CONFERENCE AT UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS ON 9 FEBRUARY TO ASSESS | | Posted Tuesday, February 06, 2007 1:02:56 PM by Blog57 Team | | The way information technology can improve the lives of all generations will be the theme of an international conference to be held at the United Nations (Conference Room 3) on Friday, 9 February. The meeting, on "Age of Connectivity: Cities, Magnets of Hope", will showcase how virtual communities and social networking can enhance the quality of life in cities. It will explore the way information and communication technology can boost economic development and permit lifelong learning and employment in our "age of longevity". Participants include experts on urban planning and development, information and communication technology, finance, government, business and health. The morning keynote speaker, Liston D. Bochette, Secretary-General of the World Olympians Association and five-time Olympic athlete, will examine how information and communication technology tools can address the complexities of city environments.... | |
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| | | United Nations: Panama elected to Security Council | | Posted Saturday, November 11, 2006 3:26:08 PM by Blog57 Team | | UNITED NATIONS -- Panama won a seat on the U.N. Security Council with the 48th ballot Tuesday after Guatemala, backed by the U.S., and Venezuela, led by the leftist anti-American President Hugo Chavez, dropped out to end a deadlock. Panama got 164 votes in the 192-member U.N. General Assembly, more than the 120 needed to win a two-year term starting Jan. 1 on the U.N.'s most powerful body. Venezuela got 11 votes, Guatemala four, and Barbados one. The race for the council seat, which began Oct. 16, became highly political because of the U.S. support for Guatemala and Chavez' speech at the General Assembly in September in which he called President Bush "the devil." A number of countries said Chavez' comments hurt Venezuela's chances. Guatemala led Venezuela in all but one of the ballots but couldn't muster the two-thirds support needed to win the seat.... | |
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| | | Latin nations closer to Security Council candidate | | Posted Thursday, November 02, 2006 11:22:51 AM by Blog57 Team | | UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of Venezuela and U.S.-backed Guatemala on Wednesday appeared close to agreeing on a substitute candidate in the battle for an open Latin American seat on the U.N. Security Council. Guatemala has led Venezuela by about 25 votes in all but one of the 47 rounds of balloting over five days that began on October 16. But it has fallen short of a required two-thirds majority in the 192-member U.N. General Assembly to secure the seat. The 47th round was conducted on Tuesday. Ecuador's U.N. Ambassador Diego Cordovez, who hosted the talks at his mission, said the "two foreign ministers are convinced" they had to decide on another candidate soon. .... | |
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| | | Wayne Angell, Joanne Hill Added to Global Indexing Forum at the United Nations | | Posted Monday, October 23, 2006 7:07:21 PM by Blog57 Team | | Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, is pleased to announce that Wayne Angell, former chief economist of Bears Sterns, Inc. and a former member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and Joanne Hill, managing director of the Pension Services Group of Goldman Sachs and Co., will be joining the forum on Global Indexing and Investing being held at the United Nations, Wednesday October 25, 2006 from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM. Alan Murray, deputy managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, will moderate the forum, where discussion topics will include: "Measuring Emerging Markets;" "Country vs. Global Sector Approaches;" and "Integration of Domestic and International Strategies." Rosalind Hewsenian, former managing director and senior investment consultant, Wilshire Associates, and Larry Speidell, CFA, Laffer Associates, will also participate.... | |
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| | | Remarks by President Bush on United Nations Security Council Resolution on North Korea | | Posted Sunday, October 15, 2006 3:10:17 AM by Blog57 Team | | The following is a transcript of remarks made by President Bush regarding the United Nations Security Council resolution on North Korea: THE PRESIDENT: Today the United Nations Security Council passed a unanimous resolution, sending a clear message to the leader of North Korea regarding his weapons programs. This action by the United Nations, which was swift and tough, says that we are united in our determination to see to it that the Korea Peninsula is nuclear weapons free. I have said all along there is a better way forward for North Korea. There's a better way forward for the people of North Korea. If the leader of North Korea were to verifiably end his weapons programs, the United States and other nations would be willing to help the nation recover economically. The message today, however, says to the leader of North Korea that the world is united in our opposition to his nuclear weapons plans.... | |
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| | | Lebanon: IAF airspace violators subject to attack | | Posted Friday, October 13, 2006 1:07:04 PM by Blog57 Team | | Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said Friday that in another few months, the Lebanese army would be able to fire anti-aircraft missiles at any IAF planes flying over Lebanon. In an interview with the London-based newspaper Al Hayat, Murr said the army had received clear instructions to fire at any aircraft that violated Lebanese airspace or infiltrated the country's skies without authorization. He added that the government in Beirut submitted complaints of IAF overflights to the UN on a daily basis. Murr also said that 8,600 Lebanese troops were currently deployed along the country's border with Syria, where they were successfully preventing any type of smuggling. .... | |
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| | | United Nations expert visit to Chechnya deferred due to difference | | Posted Friday, October 06, 2006 7:04:31 AM by Blog57 Team | | New York, Oct 5: A United Nations expert on torture has postponed indefinitely a fact-finding mission to Russia, including strife-torn Chechnya, because of differences with Moscow over making unannounced visits to detention centres and holding private interviews with detainees.Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak said in a statement that the Russian Government had invited him to carry out a fact-finding visit, with a particular focus on the North Caucasus Republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria, from October 9 to 20.However, "at a very late stage" in the preparations, he was informed by the Government that certain elements of his Terms of Reference for carrying out visits to detention facilities would contravene Russian Federation law, particularly with respect to carrying out unannounced visits, and holding private interviews with detainees, it said.Since these issues could not be resolved prior to the visit, Nowak said he will not be in a position to proceed as planned.Nowak said he had been assured by the Government that "a mutually agreeable solution will be arrived at to ensure that this important mission is carried out in the near future." In February, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said after a visit that she had "very serious concerns" about Chechnya's law enforcement system, and was particularly disturbed by the use of torture to extract confessions and information, and the intimidation of people who make complaints against public officials.Special Rapporteurs are unpaid and serve in a personal capacity, reporting to the UN Human Rights Council.... | |
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| | | NEPAL: Serious human rights abuses by rebels continue - United Nations | | Posted Wednesday, September 27, 2006 11:08:39 PM by Blog57 Team | | KATHMANDU, 27 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - Abductions, torture, brutal beatings, killings, extortions and other serious human rights abuses by Maoist rebels have not stopped despite their engagement in the ongoing peace process, according to a new report by the United Nations (UN) Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal. OHCHR officials criticised rebel leaders of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), saying that despite their commitment to end human rights abuses, serious violations have continued in the districts and villages. The CPN-Maoist must show that is serious about its commitments by ending these abuses and ensuring that those cadres responsible are brought to account, said David Johnson, officer-in-charge of OHCHR-Nepal. Several agreements have been made between the Maoists and the interim government during a series of peace talks which began in May, and both sides had agreed to a peaceful political resolution and to promoting a peaceful environment by ensuring security for civilians.... | |
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| | | Latvian Prez joins race for post of United Nations Secy Gen | | Posted Monday, September 18, 2006 3:19:34 PM by Blog57 Team | | Dharam Shourie, United Nations, Sept 16: Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga has joined the race for the post of the next UN Secretary General, taking the number of contestants to six including Indian nominee Shashi Tharoor.68-year-old Vike-Freiberga is the first woman and first non-Asian to be formally nominated for the post. She was nominated by three Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, asserting that she has shown the capacity to inspire a nation and hence is suitable for the post.They sent an official letter to UN Security Council President, Adamantios Vassilakis of Greece, to put her in the race, Council diplomats said.Her name would be in the next straw poll on Septembder 28. Diplomats expected the final decision to be taken some time in October but were not betting on the date.... | |
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| | | Islamic Regimes Defy United Nations | | Posted Friday, September 08, 2006 9:18:23 PM by Blog57 Team | | (CNSNews.com) - The United Nations is facing two major instances of defiance from Islamic regimes, and it shows little willingness to act collectively against either. Within weeks, a cash-strapped and overstretched African Union (A.U.) peacekeeping force in Sudan's Darfur region is due to depart, handing over its mission to a U.N. force that is three times larger and mandated to protect civilians caught in the fighting. But Khartoum's Islamist government repeatedly has rejected the idea of a U.N. force. The A.U. mission's mandate expires at the end of September, and it says it lacks the money and equipment to stay any longer. Now Sudan wants the A.U. force to accept additional funding from the Arab League and extend its stay. If the African body rejects the proposal, Khartoum says, it must withdraw its troops from Darfur.... | |
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