INTERNATIONAL

Russia and China’s veto of the UN Security Council resolution which condemned Syria over its brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters and contained a weak reference to the possibility of sanctions against Damascus proved (again) one thing – that despite torrents of soaring rhetoric to the contrary by our leaders, international politics is not about doing what is right and in …

Pinning its hopes on the sole support of the US, Israel risks a collapse if it is ever withdrawn – much like apartheid-era South Africa, prominent scholar Professor Noam Chomsky warns. ­He recalls how South Africans felt safe to ignore a UN embargo and corporations pulling out of their country throughout the 1980s, as long as the Reagan administration continued …

When the going gets tough the weak get hammered. As the United States' military occupation of Afghanistan falters with the Taliban launching a series of successful attacks on US targets, many wonder whether President Barack Obama, in a deep quagmire over his failure to salvage the crumbling economy, is now planning a war on Pakistan or at least parts of …

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 27, 2011 (IPS) – If Palestine fails to achieve full statehood recognition at the United Nations, the only other viable option is to get "enhanced" observer status with the 193-member General Assembly, the U.N.'s highest policy making body. But that proposed new status has already triggered Israeli and Western fears that Palestinians may also logically win the …

In interview with Time magazine Turkish PM says Israeli-Palestinian conflict would have been resolved long ago if UN had imposed sanctions on Israel; says Israeli gov’t not honest about flotilla   Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is advocating imposing UN sanctions on Israel. In an interview with Time magazine the Turkish leader said that had prospective UN sanctions been …

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 23, 2011 (IPS) – If there were any lingering doubts the Palestinians would not be able to garner the support of an overwhelming majority of member states at the United Nations, they were laid to rest when the 193-member General Assembly Friday gave a rousing and rapturous welcome to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. As delegates from the …