UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. torture investigator called on nations on Tuesday to end lengthy solitary confinement in prisons, saying it could cause serious mental and physical damage and amount to torture.

Solitary confinement is practiced in a majority of countries for reasons ranging from punishment to protection of prisoners from fellow inmates but is subject to widespread abuse, said Juan Mendez, U.N. special rapporteur on torture.

NEW YORK, Oct 14 (Reuters) – The United States should learn
from emerging powers such as India and Brazil and make its
economic interests central to its foreign policy to remain a
global leader, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on
Friday.

“We have to position ourselves to lead in a world where
security is shaped in boardrooms and on trading floors — as
well as on battlefields,” Clinton told the Economic Club of New
York.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The United States should learn from emerging powers such as India and Brazil and make its economic interests central to its foreign policy to remain a global leader, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday.

“We have to position ourselves to lead in a world where security is shaped in boardrooms and on trading floors — as well as on battlefields,” Clinton said in prepared remarks to the Economic Club of New York.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Russia expressed strong opposition on Wednesday to a revised Western draft resolution condemning Syria for its crackdown on opposition protesters even though the new text drops calls for immediate sanctions.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he had circulated his own draft among the 14 other members of the Security Council, an updated version of a bland earlier Russian text that expressed concern over developments in Syria.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A divided U.N. Security Council met behind closed doors on Monday for its first discussion of last week’s Palestinian application for full U.N. membership as a state, a move seen as certain to fail.

The meeting kicked off a process expected to take several weeks at least. It broke up after an hour with Lebanese Ambassador Nawaf Salam, this month’s council president, saying the 15-nation body would hold a formal meeting on Wednesday to refer the matter to its admissions committee.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – NATO should continue operations in Libya as long as Muammar Gaddafi’s loyalists are killing civilians, and the toppled leader still could destabilize the region, Libya’s de facto prime minister said on Monday.

U.N. Security Council resolution 1973, passed in March, called for protection of civilians by all available means, leading NATO to launch a campaign of air strikes that played a major role in helping rebels overthrow Gaddafi last month in the oil-producing North African nation.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A last-ditch international push began in New York on Sunday to try to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and avert a crisis over Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.

Officials met two days after President Mahmoud Abbas said he would demand full membership of the world body for a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly this week, setting up a diplomatic clash with Israel and the United States.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 16 (Reuters) – The U.N. Security
Council on Friday eased sanctions on Libya, including on its
national oil company and central bank, to enable key
institutions to recover after rebels won a civil war.

The 15-nation council voted unanimously for a resolution
that also establishes a U.N. mission in Libya to help the North
African nation get back on its feet after the overthrow of
Muammar Gaddafi.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Sudan and newly independent South Sudan agreed on Thursday to pull back forces this month from the disputed Abyei region, a senior U.N. official said.

The decision, if implemented, could ease border tensions between the two countries.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United States called on Monday for the rescinding of a nearly 3 percent cost of living pay raise to almost 5,000 U.N. employees in New York, saying it was inappropriate at a time of global austerity.

In a letter to the independent body that awarded the raise, senior U.S. diplomat Joseph Torsella said Washington “strongly objects” to the measure, which took effect on August 1 and covers around 4,800 U.N. international staff.