UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Britain and France will put forward a U.N. Security Council resolution on Wednesday condemning Syria’s crackdown on protesters, British Prime Minister David Cameron said.

Britain, France, Germany and Portugal circulated a first draft condemning Syria at the Security Council last month but veto powers Russia and China have made clear they dislike the idea of council involvement.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Serbia met a key obligation to a U.N. war crimes tribunal by arresting Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic but still needs to explain why it took so long, the court’s chief prosecutor said on Monday.

The prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, told the U.N. Security Council there remained “troubling questions” about how Mladic, who led Serb forces in Bosnia’s brutal 1992-95 ethnic war, managed to evade capture for 16 years.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council called on the Khartoum government on Friday to withdraw its forces immediately from the Abyei region, a key area of dispute in the north-south division of Sudan next month.

There has been no agreement on which country the oil-producing region should belong to when south Sudan becomes independent on July 9, but the northern military seized it on May 21, sparking fears of a renewed civil war.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called on governments on Friday to discourage pro-Palestinian activists from sending a new aid flotilla to Gaza a year after Israeli commandos killed nine people aboard a previous convoy.

In letters to Mediterranean governments, Ban said all aid for Gaza, which is blockaded by Israeli forces, should go through “legitimate crossings and established channels” — which in practice in recent years has meant through Israel.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called on governments on Friday to discourage pro-Palestinian activists from sending a new aid flotilla to Gaza a year after Israeli commandos killed nine people aboard a previous convoy.

In letters to Mediterranean governments, Ban said all aid for Gaza, which is blockaded by Israeli forces, should go through “legitimate crossings and established channels” — which in practice in recent years has meant through Israel.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called on governments on Friday to discourage pro-Palestinian activists from sending a new aid flotilla to Gaza a year after Israeli commandos killed nine people aboard a previous convoy.

In letters to Mediterranean governments, Ban said all aid for Gaza, which is blockaded by Israeli forces, should go through “legitimate crossings and established channels” — which in practice in recent years has meant through Israel.

UNITED NATIONS, May 25 (Reuters) – The United Nations
warned on Wednesday of a possible crisis of confidence in, and
even a “collapse” of, the U.S. dollar if its value against
other currencies continued to decline.

In a mid-year review of the world economy, the U.N.
economic division said such a development, stemming from the
falling value of foreign dollar holdings, would imperil the
global financial system.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Kuwait was among 15 nations elected on Friday to the U.N. Human Rights Council after Syria, under pressure over its crackdown on protesters, dropped its bid for an Arab slot on the controversial panel.

Kuwait stepped into the race last week after Western countries persuaded Arab states that Syria was not a suitable candidate. In a General Assembly vote, the Gulf emirate was elected along with India, Indonesia and the Philippines on a clean, or uncontested, slate of Asian nations for three-year council terms.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Whether IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is innocent or guilty of sexual assault, his arrest has raised questions about whether international organizations are soft on their top officials in such matters.

The scandal has broken at a time when private companies are becoming less and less tolerant of any sexual misconduct by their senior executives. A string of high-profile companies have shed their bosses in recent years over such issues.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Recent U.N. resolutions on Libya broke new ground in backing international action to protect civilians, but the stalemated civil war that has ensued could roll back those advances, diplomats and analysts say.

Russia, China and other powers have voiced dismay that the world body has appeared to take sides in an internal conflict, not just in Libya but also in Ivory Coast, where a Security Council resolution led to the ousting of an incumbent ruler.