UN News

BBC: "Lebanon's cabinet has approved draft UN plans for setting up an international tribunal to try suspects in the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syria has been implicated in the bombing that killed Mr Hariri in February 2005, but denies involvement."

As Congress prepares to switch majority parties in January, it may be useful to think about how this shift could affect US-UN relations. Initially, perhaps the most identifiable consequence of the election may be that it delivered a death knell to Congressional threats to force United Nations reform by withholding UN dues.

"Norway, Iceland, Australia, Ireland and Sweden rank as the best five countries to live in but Africa's quality of life has plummeted because of AIDS, said a U.N. report released on Thursday. The United States was ranked in eighth place, after Canada and Japan, in the report that rates not only per-capita income but also educational levels, health care and life expectancy in measuring a nation's well-being.

"Panama got 164 votes in the 192-member UN General Assembly, more than the 120 needed to win a two-year term starting Jan. 1 on the UN's most powerful body. Venezuela got 11 votes, Guatemala got 4 and Barbados got 1." More

After over forty rounds of voting, neither Guatemala nor Venezuela will join the Security Council. Rather, Latin American member states have nominated Panama as a compromise candidate.

NYT: "Venezuela and Guatemala agreed Wednesday to withdraw from their race for a seat on the United Nations Security Council and to support Panama as a candidate."

From the Better World Campaign: A majority of Americans believe in a strong United Nations and continue to support active engagement with the UN, according to a recent poll released by the Better World Campaign. So what does your 2006 Congressional candidate think about the UN? The Better World Campaign asked all 2006 Congressional candidates about their positions on U.S. funding for the United Nations, for UN peacekeeping, for repairing the out-dated and unsafe UN headquarters, and more. Click here to view the survey.

It seems that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's theatrics at the General Assembly have backfired. After 36 rounds of voting, Venezuela still cannot garner the support of 2/3rds of member states necessary to win a seat on the Security Council. In the New York Times today, Warren Hoge explains that member states -- particularly in Latin America -- were none too happy with Chavez's anti-U.S. diatribe.

"For the tenth and last time as Secretary-General, I offer friends and colleagues around the world my best wishes on United Nations Day. I have spent almost my whole professional life working for the United Nations - so this day, and the values that it stands for, will always be special for me." - UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan