South Africa continues to push for reform of the "undemocratic" UN Security Council, says International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.
Security operations are continuing in Nairobi, where al-Shabab rebels have seized an upmarket mall following an attack which left 39 people dead.
The US, UK and France want UN-sanctioned use of force should Syria fail to allow destruction of its chemical weapons, but Russia disagrees.
The country is peeved at being blocked in the UN Security Council but is guilty of doing the same.
Turkey has called on the UN to take action against Syria, but the war-torn nation said it will continue its offensive regardless.
The M23 rebellion, the latest of a string of armed insurgencies in the DRC’s North Kivu province, has been active for one year now.
The UN Security Council has imposed new sanctions against North Korea as the North has threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the US.
The UN Security Council has unanimously condemned the use of heavy weapons in Syria’s Houla after the deaths of more than 100 civilians.
The Responsibility to Protect doctrine is in danger of being deemed useless as thousands of Syrian civilians continue to die at the state’s hands.
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/ 14 February 2012
China concedes that it needs to work together with the EU to solve Europe’s debt crisis.
Russia looks likely to oppose a joint West-Arab call at the UN Security Council for Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
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/ 28 January 2012
Syrian death toll spikes as Russia opposes a new Arab and European bid to secure tough United Nations resolution.
As negotiations entered the 11th hour at COP17, activists chanted slogans to the ICC. Those who saw out the peaceful protest were escorted out by UN security.
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/ 19 November 2011
Syria has agreed in principle to allow a contingent of Arab observers into the state to oversee the implementation of the Arab League peace plan.
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/ 1 November 2011
The UN Security Council has condemned piracy in the Gulf of Guinea off the West African coast and backed regional plans to tackle the growing problem.
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/ 12 October 2011
UN Security Council members are battling to come up with a way to address the growing death toll in Yemen from protests against President Saleh.
Europe and the US have embarked on a new bid to convince UN Security Council members, including SA, to condemn al-Assad’s deadly crackdown in Syria.
Rumours are mounting that, as the known death toll in Syria rises, SA’s representative is among those blocking a UN Security Council resolution.
The South African team’s uneven performance in the United Nations Security Council is a mystery to many, writes <b>Sean Christie</b>.
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/ 12 November 2010
Nigeria’s foreign minister is threatening action against Iran if it violated international law and UN sanctions in an arms-smuggling case.
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/ 17 December 2009
The European Union on Wednesday urged the Democratic Republic of Congo’s rulers to end violence against civilians in the country.
The UN Security Council is heading to Africa for a series of meetings and visits focusing on the continent’s hotspots.
Thousands of Sri Lankans under fire waded across a lagoon to escape the island’s war zone, where the military has surrounded Tiger rebels.
Kgalema Motlanthe this week slammed the attacks in Gaza, dubbing the offensive ”sheer savagery and brutality” that caused a ”deep sense of revulsion”.
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/ 15 December 2008
Zimbabwe has accused Botswana of training opposition insurgents to oust Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe, it was reported on Monday.
Southern African leaders will hold an emergency meeting in Swaziland’s capital, Mbabane, on Wednesday to discuss the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Negotiations sponsored by the United Nations and aimed at bringing the Somali government and its main political foes into direct dialogue were due to resume on Saturday in Djibouti. The first round of discussions ended on May 16 and although the rivals did not engage in direct talks, the move was seen as a breakthrough in efforts to end conflict.
Lebanon’s Parliament is set to elect army chief General Michel Suleiman as the country’s president on Sunday, filling a post left vacant for six months by a political crisis that threatened a new civil war. A Qatari-brokered deal last week between rival Lebanese leaders defused 18 months of political stalemate that erupted into fighting this month.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon flew to Burma on Thursday to press the ruling generals to allow a full-blown international aid effort for 2,4-million people left destitute by Cyclone Nargis. The government’s official toll is 77 738 people killed and 55 917 missing, and it also estimates the damage to the economy at -billion.
A leading human rights group accused the international community on Monday of not doing enough to deter Sudan from new attacks in Darfur, where it cited a return to ”scorched-earth” policies. Human Rights Watch said the United Nations Security Council should impose sanctions on Sudanese officials behind attacks on civilians in Darfur in February.
The United Nations food agency suspended aid flights to cyclone-struck Burma on Friday after the military government seized two deliveries at Rangoon airport, apparently determined to distribute supplies on its own. Governments around the world have been pressing Burma’s ruling generals to open the country’s borders to desperately needed assistance.
Iran will not give up its rights in the face of Western pressure, its supreme leader said on Sunday, two days after major powers said they would make a new offer to convince Tehran to halt its nuclear plans. Ayatollah Ali Khomenei did not explicitly mention Iran’s nuclear activities, which Western powers suspect are aimed at making bombs.