Mes: septiembre 2019

(AP) UNITED NATIONS – Former Algerian foreign affairs minister Lakhdar Brahimi is a strong candidate to replace Kofi Annan as peace envoy to Syria, diplomats said Thursday. Diplomats who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly said that Brahimi was a strong possibility, while other contenders are ex-Spanish foreign affairs minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and Spain’s Javier Solana, a former NATO chief and European Union foreign policy head. Annan, a former U.N. secretary-general, announced his resignation last week as joint U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, ending a frustrating six-month effort that failed to achieve even a temporary cease-fire. He leaves at the end of the month. Clashes rage in rebel bastions of Syria’s AleppoVideo: Amid defections, Syria names new PM Divisions within the Security Council prevented a united approach to stop the fighting in in Syria, Annan said when he announced his resignation. Russia and China have twice used their veto power to block strong Western- and Arab-backed action against President Bashar Assad’s regime. While he singled out the regime for blame for the escalating violence, Annan also said the opposition’s increasingly militant tactics contributed to dooming his six-point peace plan, which included a cease-fire and a Syrian-led political process to end the crisis. Annan did succeed in getting the Syrian government and its allies to at least agree to the plan. Brahimi, 78, served as Algeria’s...

(CBS News) UNITED NATIONS – Beyonce was breathtaking. No other way to describe the stunning performance at the General Assembly Hall of United Nations Headquarters in New York on Friday night, when she sang “I Was Here” in honor of humanitarian aid workers killed in the line of duty around the world to be broadcast on August 19th. “She was fantastic,” U.K. Ambassador to the U.N., Sir Mark Lyall Grant, said after the performance, which he attended with his daughter. “World Humanitarian Day is a chance to pay tribute to the commitment and courage of those who work in some of the world’s most dangerous places,” the ambassador told CBS News, “It’s fantastic that a world-acclaimed artist like Beyonce is helping to raise awareness for this important cause — she’s reminding us that we can all play a part in relieving suffering around the world.” It was on the same platform where Col. Muammar Qaddafi once rambled on for hours; Nikita Khrushchev pounded his shoe; Fidel Castro spoke for over three hours; and every U.S. president, since the U.N. was founded, has addressed diplomats. With the podium moved aside for a screen designed by filmmaker Ridley Scott, the world-renowned diva delivered a message of legacy with her ballad, “I Was Here,” written by Diane Warren about the personal drive to be remembered and to leave a “footprint.” Beyonce to...

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