Free Republic

PA's unilateral resolution calling on Israel to "end the occupation" fails to receive the nine required votes to pass. Only eight countries voted in favor of the resolution, two voted against, and there were five abstentions. The resolution needed nine votes in favor to have passed. Australia and the United States voted against.

The Russian dictator humanitarian, Vladimir Putin, is sending some much needed food and water to those poor oppressed rebels in Eastern Ukraine. After already having shown his penchant for helping individuals who suffer under the tyranny of democratic freedom in the semi-autonomous Peninsula of Crimea, Putin has decided to lend aid to a “rag-tag” group of Pro-Russian separatists… Because if the 20th Century has taught us anything, it is that nothing says “freedom” like a hammer and sickle. In justifying his “humanitarian aid”, the Bond Villain Putin explained that his humanitarian mission was endorsed by the Red Cross… Surely he...

Earlier the Saudi foreign ministry said it had turned down the non-permanent seat, accusing the world body of "double standards". The ministry said the UN needs to be reformed first. It said the Security Council had failed in its duties towards Syria as well as in other world conflicts. Mr Ban refused to say whether he would be speaking to the Saudi king about the matter. "I understand that some member states, particularly some concerned group of member states, are discussing [this] among themselves," Mr Ban said. The reaction among diplomats to this unprecedented decision has been one of shock...

SNIPPET: "I rarely attend trials, but this one is special. On July 24, 2013, the main hearing in the case of German businessman Rudolf M. and Iranian-Germans Gholamali K., Kianzad K., and Hamid Kh. opened at Hamburg’s Higher Regional Court. The defendants are charged with exporting 92 German-produced specialized valves for use in Iran’s Arak plutonium reactor and arranging the shipment of 856 nuclear-usable valves from India to Iran in 2010 and 2011. The reasons why the UN Security Council has ordered Iran to halt the construction of the Arak reactor are compelling. If this nuclear plant comes online in...

The Obama administration is right to be caution about US intervention in Syria. For the US to launch a military strike without UN Security Council sanction would constitute an illegal 'act of war' against a sovereign state. (The Kosovo precedent cannot make an illegal act legal). Awkwardly, reality is rather different: There has been absolutely no evidence published to support the allegation that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces were responsible for this latest, or any other gas attack in Syria. Unwelcome as it may be to certain European and regional governments, who have been cheerleading the case for American intervention, neither...

Today, at the United Nations, the Obama administration is turning its back on Israel. For the very first time, the U.N. Security Council has invited the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights to “brief” the Council specifically on the subject of Israel and the commissioner’s list of trumped-up sins. Though the U.S. is a veto-holding power, the extraordinary move has full American approval, despite the fact that the global soapbox will be handed to Navi Pillay, a notorious anti-Israel partisan. Moreover, the American-backed action exposes President Obama’s profound weakness on the international stage. It turns out that the deal to...

The AU wants Africa to manufacture and export finished products to its trading partners rather than just selling them the raw materials as it does now. She cited China, India, the EU and US and other rising stars in trade with the continent, including Turkey and Latin America, and said the AU had held talks on the new breed of partnerships with some of them. The AU also wants Africa to have a veto-wielding seat on the UN Security Council, and a place at the G20 negotiating table, Ali said. The peace and security that have eluded Africa for decades...

There is an illegal occupation that has gone on for decades in the Middle East and it's not being enforced by the IDF. In August 1974, Turkey seized nearly 37% of the then-independent Cyprus. The pretext for the invasion was the protection of Turkish Cypriots, who made up about 18% of the island's population. On July 15, EOKA B, a Cypriot paramilitary organization supporting union with Greece, backed by the junta in Athens, overthrew the government of Archbishop Makarios. But the coup failed. Makarios survived and his thuggish replacement was ousted after eight days in office, when the regime of...

In another major sign of growing ties between India and the United States, President Barack Obama on Monday backed a permanent seat for India in the U.N. Security Council. "In the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed U.N. Security Council that includes India as a permanent member," he said in an address to the Indian Parliament. The statement came as Obama made a wide-ranging address that envisioned closer economic and security ties between the United States and India, standing "shoulder to shoulder" with the world's largest democracy. In a swift reaction, Pakistan said it is discounting the possibility...

Iran has been able to smuggle advanced technological equipment to its uranium enrichment plant in Natanz via a complex smuggling route based in Dubai, the Sunday Telegraph reported on Sunday. According to the report, an Iranian company has purchased control systems from one of Germany's leading electronic manufacturers. The deal was negotiated with a Dubai trading company, which in turn sold Iran a range of electronic equipment for use at its enrichment facility, the British website reported. The report comes amid growing concerns that though Iran claims its nuclear program has only peaceful aims, Tehran is in fact working toward...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday she expects Iran will "pull some stunt in the next couple of days" as a UN vote on tough sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program looms. Asked what she expects in the runup to a UN Security Council vote on sanctions on Tehran over its controversial nuclear program, Clinton said "I expect Iran to pull some stunt in the next couple of days." Iran has in the past taken steps to "avoid being held accountable," Clinton told reporters as she waited to depart on a Latin American trip....

"Air Force strikes in Gaza" SNIPPET: "IDF retaliates for deadly Qassam attack: Air Force hits several Gaza targets, including metal foundry, smuggling tunnel; Vice PM Shalom says Israel to offer strong response to rocket attack that killed Thai worker Thursday" SNIPPET: "IDF aircraft struck at least four targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday, a day after a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave killed a Thai worker in Israel, Hamas security officials and witnesses said." SNIPPET: "Israel also sent a letter of complaint to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is due to visit Israel at the weekend,...

When the Obama Administration proclaimed victory on October 1st by announcing that a break-through had been reached in Geneva and that Iran had committed to shipping 2,600 pounds of fuel to Russia, expert Iran watchers were appropriately cynical. Bolton cautioned, yet again, that the Iranians had used some of the same diplomatic nuances they had been using for years to successfully buy more time to continue enriching uranium and fake cooperation with the international community. Usually, the Europeans were the first to take the bait but this time the Obama Administration got hooked first. Bolton, however, was the first to...

It's a sad day for America when you realize the French President has more brass than our Commander in Chief. Obama: “We must never stop until we see the day when nuclear arms have been banished from the face of the earth.” Sarkozy: “We live in the real world, not the virtual world. And the real world expects us to take decisions.”

One of my favorite features of the Newseum in Washington, DC is the daily display of newspaper front pages from around the world. Today, Canada’s National Post was a standout with Alex Spillius’ coverage of a clash between Presidents Obama and Sarkozy.

The fix is in. The transnationalist will abdicate American sovereignty to the OIC controlled UN. Watch. Obama to seal US-UN relationship; First US president to chair Security Council... (hat tip Van) Barack Obama will cement the new co-operative relationship between the US and the United Nations this month when he becomes the first American president to chair its 15-member Security Council. The topic for the summit-level session of the council on September 24 is nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament – one of several global challenges that the US now wants to see addressed at a multinational level. “The council has...

Reuters has an article speculating what might happen with the North Korean ship Kang Nam. Latest news reports suggest the ship is bound for Myanmar, a country unlikely to abide by any United Nations resolution. No one really knows how this might unfold, but based on Obama's comments early last week, I think the ship will not be allowed to complete its journey. These comments in particular describe the policy. Obama said that, in recent years, North Korea's provocations have been "rewarded" as Western countries offered fuel, food and loans in exchange for promises of good behavior that are eventually...

Pyongyang, May 29 (KCNA) -- The DPRK Foreign Ministry issued a statement as regards the UNSC's threat to put additional sanctions against the DPRK, terming its successful nuclear test a violation of the UNSC Resolution 1718.At present, some countries were shocked at the news of the DPRK's second nuclear test. But an exceptional act has its exceptional reason. The recent nuclear test conducted by the DPRK is the 2054th one on the earth. The five permanent members of the UNSC have conducted 99.99 percent of all the nuclear tests.

YEONPYEONG, South Korea -North Korea warned Friday it would act in "self-defense" if provoked by the U.N. Security Council, which is considering tough sanctions over the communist country's nuclear test, and followed the threat with the test launch of another short-range missile. The North fired the missile from its Musudan-ni launch site on the east coast, a South Korean government official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the matter. It is the sixth short-range missile North Korea has test-fired since Monday's nuclear test. The official did not provide further details. But the Yonhap news agency...

Iran has sent six warships into international waters in a move security experts are calling a "muscle flexing" show of defiance following missile tests last week."Iran has dispatched six ... warships to international waters and the Gulf of Aden region in a historically unprecedented move by the Iranian Navy," Iranian Adm. Habibollah Sayyari told a gathering of armed forces officials, Reuters reported. Sayyari said the ships were moved to preserve Iran's territorial integrity in its southern waters, but foreign policy experts are calling it an aggressive move targeted at a Western audience as much as for regional powers like...