INTERNATIONAL

  The scale of the ongoing tragedy visited on Libya by NATO and its allies is becoming horribly clearer with each passing day. Estimates of those killed so far vary, but 50,000 seems like a low estimate; indeed the British Ministry of Defence was boasting that the onslaught had killed 35,000 as early as last May. But this number is constantly growing. …

The US government is the second worst human rights abuser on the planet and the sole enabler of the worst–Israel. But this doesn’t hamper Washington from pointing the finger elsewhere. The US State Department’s “human rights report” focuses its ire on Iran and Syria, two countries whose real sin is their independence from Washington, and on the bogyman- in-the-making–China, the …

  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks at the General Assembly's debate, "The Road to Rio+20 and beyond", on May 22.  Credit:UN Photo/JC McIlwaine UNITED NATIONS, May 23, 2012 (IPS) – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has invested heavily in the success of the upcoming U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), is publicly expressing his frustration at the lack of substantial progress on …

The United States has completed its planning for a military strike on Iran, the US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro said in remarks at a closed conference in Tel Aviv that were broadcast on Israel TV on Wednesday night. “It would be preferable to resolve this diplomatically, and through the use of pressure, than to use military force,” Shapiro said …

  The Security Council meets to consider the maintenance of international peace and security, but political wrangling often prevents swift action.  Credit:UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras UNITED NATIONS, May 15, 2012 (IPS) – The 193-member General Assembly is expected to vote on a resolution – described as "historic" – requesting the five permanent members (P5) of the Security Council to consider "refraining …

President Obama has informed the Iranians they have one “last chance” to avoid attack. They must suspend higher uranium enrichment, close down the Fordow enrichment facility, and “surrender” their stockpile of uranium enriched to 20 per cent purity. Iranian officials respond matter-of-factly that such demands are “irrational.” (Some Israeli officials, eager to build the case for attack, are reportedlydelighted with …