Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on TwitterBe a Facebook FanTumble us!

09 Jun 2010 20:36

tags

World: Iran sanctions: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad needs a dustbin, stat

  • I gave one of the [world powers] a message that the resolutions you issue are like a used handkerchief which should be thrown in the dustbin.
  • Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • Talking all big and stuff after major sanctions were put on his country by the UN. What do the sanctions (the fourth set put on the country) do? Well, they allow the UN to prevent the tools for making nuclear devices from entering the country, specifically targeting the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who have been known to create front companies. Beyond that, though, it also blocks Iran from buying heavy weapons like helicopters and attack missiles, and stiffens restrictions on both banks and certain individuals. That’s one fairly solid handkerchief Ahmadinejad just threw away. Or is it? source

07 Jun 2010 11:02

tags

Politics: Hillary Clinton: Iran’s gonna pull something, ’cause they always do

  • I think we’ll see something coming up in the next 24 to 48 hours. I don’t think anybody should be surprised if they try to divert attention once again from the unity within the Security Council … but we have the votes.
  • Secretary of State Hillary Clinton • Regarding the sanctions the United Nations Security Council is trying to push for against Iran. Clinton is currently headed to Brazil, where she’s trying to mend fences with the country, which opposes new sanctions on Iran. It’s her second trip to Latin America in three months. source

06 Jun 2010 11:35

tags

Politics, World: Israel to UN: We don’t need no stinkin’ international oversight!

  • We are rejecting an international commission. We are discussing with the Obama administration a way in which our inquiry will take place.
  • Israel’s US ambassador, Michael Oren • Regarding the country’s response to the UN’s proposal of an international commission to study what happened during the flotilla incident. Why reject the proposal? “Israel is a democratic nation,” Oren says. “Israel has the ability and the right to investigate itself, not to be investigated by any international board.” But we’re guessing the international board might have slightly less bias in the situation than Israel might. Just a hunch. source

01 Jun 2010 20:43

tags

Politics: The White House is being super-vague about the Israel thing

  • yes They’re against acts that resulted in the loss of life. (Uh, O … kay, whatever that means)
  • no They haven’t outright said to Israel that they screwed up, or that they support their actions. source

18 May 2010 11:13

tags

World: Holy carp: The UN says oceans could run out of fish in 40 years

  • If the various estimates we have received… come true, then we are in the situation where 40 years down the line we, effectively, are out of fish.
  • United Nations Environment Program leader Pavan Sukhdev • Regarding the possibility of the oceans running out of fish. The UN says that the problem can be prevented if subsidies to fishing fleets are cut, and fish are given safe zones where commercial fishing can’t take place. If not, we hope you like avocado rolls, because there may not be enough fish for your sushi if the UN is right. source

28 Mar 2010 12:04

tags

World: Mass killings in the Democratic Republic of Congo under-reported

  • 321+ were reported killed
    in the December
    attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army
  • 180+ were abducted by Congo rebels, 80 of them children, Human Rights Watch says
  • yes the UN knew about the attacks, but says communication lines are weak source

16 Feb 2010 09:05

tags

World: Ahmadinejad has delusions of making a nuclear deal with the West

  • There are some talks under way over the nuclear fuel swap. The case is not yet closed … we have already announced that we are ready for a fuel exchange within a fair framework.
  • Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • Regarding hopes for a nuclear fuel swap despite the fact that they had already started enriching uranium. Iran already missed their chance; the UN’s deal required other countries to enrich the fuel for Iran so that it wasn’t at a high enough grade for them to build weapons. The chance that they’ll be sanctioned is pretty dang high. source
 

06 Feb 2010 20:46

tags

U.S., World: Is Iran ready to come to terms with the world on nuclear energy?

  • yes This weekend, Iran made a bold-faced claim that the they were finally close to an agreement with the United Nations on their nuclear program. About time.
  • no The U.S. and Germany laughed at the thought. “I don’t have the sense we are close to an agreement,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates rebuffed. source

16 Jan 2010 16:49

tags

World: Sanjay Gupta officially more helpful than the United Nations

  • What is striking to me as a physician is that patients who just had surgery, patients who are critically ill are essentially being left here, nobody to care for them.
  • Dr. Sanjay Gupta • Regarding a situation where he ended up helping a bunch of earthquake victims out of security concerns after the UN-led group that was there was reportedly told to leave out of security concerns. Gupta stayed overnight with the victims, trying to help them out, but having trouble due to lack of supplies. The UN, for their part, claims it did not tell the doctors and other medical support to leave, but other organizations they were tied to might have. Gupta made sure all the victims survived through the night, because he’s an amazing human being. source

15 Jan 2010 22:07

tags

World: In Haiti, desperation quickly grows among the survivors

Aid is slow to come in, and reports of looting have gone up significantly. The UN’s help is anemic compared to the need: 8,000 fed, 3 million hungry. source