"U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the United States again on Friday to enter direct talks with Iran to ease a crisis over Iranian nuclear work after Washington vowed not to be drawn into "endless" dialogue." [More]
"Ethiopia is holding opposition figures under laws that may violate its constitution, Somalia urgently needs international attention, and despite assertions by Sudan's Government, displaced women in that country's Darfur region are still being raped on a large scale, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said today.
Just back from a two-week mission to the Horn of Africa, she told reporters at the UN complex in Geneva that in Ethiopia, thousands of people were imprisoned after events following last year's elections year. Of these just over 100 remained, comprising elected officials, journalists and other members of civil society charged with genocide and treason." [Full story]
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Democracy Arsenal's Suzanne Nossel on China and the UN
Bradford Plumer on the "water wars"
Coalition for Darfur on setting up UN forces in Darfur
Mark Leon Goldberg on the new Human Rights Council
News Hounds on Fox News' UN coverage
"When Toshiko Kitahara arrived in Ragh district in Badakhshan province, north-east Afghanistan, two things struck her: its natural beauty and the fact that girls did not attend school.
As a UN Volunteer with the World Food Programme (WFP), Toshiko decided to make girls' education a priority. [She first arrived in Afghanistan in 2002 and started as a UN Volunteer in 2003.] A programme officer with WFP's Food for Education unit in the province, the Japanese national took up her concern directly with department of education officials - and just about anyone else who would listen.
WaPo: "Cuba, Saudi Arabia, China and Russia won seats on the new U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday despite their poor human rights records, but two rights abusers - Iran and Venezuela - were defeated.
Human rights groups said they were generally pleased with the 47 members elected to the council, which will replace the highly politicized Human Rights Commission. It was discredited in recent years because some countries with terrible rights records used their membership to protect one another from condemnation.
"The spoiler governments, the governments that have a history of trying to undermine the protection of human rights through their membership on the old commission are now a significantly reduced minority when it comes to the council," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "That doesn't guarantee that the council will be a success, but it is a step in the right direction."
"The United States is proposing a Security Council resolution that would give the United Nations control over Darfur peacekeeping operations, which are now being handled by the African Union. The Council will take up the matter at a special ministerial level meeting." [More]