Free Republic

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Thursday he favoured a binding cap on greenhouse gas emissions but noted that the climate change conference in Indonesia should focus on setting a timeline for a deal by 2009. "As far as I am concerned, as secretary general, as a matter of principle, there should be mandatory capping," Ban told reporters here two days before he was due to leave for the Bali conference. "However, I know that there are some concerns in some of the developing countries, therefore, this issue should be discussed in the future negotiation process," he...

UNITED NATIONS - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report released Wednesday that he hopes to appoint judges to the international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri by the end of the year. In the report to the Security Council, Ban said the tribunal would not be established until the U.N. had an estimated $35 million to fund its operations through the first year, as well as an additional $85 million in pledges to pay for the following two years. The Security Council approved a resolution in May to establish the tribunal...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Security Council approved a brief extension of U.N. peacekeeping operations in Bosnia on Friday, giving diplomats time to tackle a demand to exempt Americans from prosecution by the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal. The United States has threatened to end its participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations if the council does not grant Americans who take part immunity from arrest and prosecution by the International Criminal Court, which becomes a reality July 1. The council had been expected to extend the U.N. civilian police mission in Bosnia and the authorization for the NATO-led peacekeeping...