Security Council

Politically divided Lebanon and Bosnia-Herzegovina were among five countries elected to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, in a move diplomats hoped would help strengthen the two countries' fragile institutions. In an uncontested election, the United Nations General Assembly voted for Bosnia, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria to serve on the council in the next two years. All five had been selected in advance by their regional groups. On Jan. 1 they will replace Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Libya and Vietnam as non-veto-holding members of the 15-nation body, the powerhouse of the United Nations with the authority to impose sanctions and deploy peacekeeping forces.

BEIRUT - The United Nations Security Council on Saturday authorized a full monitoring mission of up to 300 observers in Syria as the advance team visited the battered central city of Homs for the first time. Opposition activists said the bombardment of Homs, which has been shelled almost continuously for nearly three months, stopped before the monitors toured one of the hardest-hit neighborhoods, Khaldiyeh. State media reported that the team also toured the city's devastated opposition stronghold of Baba Amr, but activists could not confirm the visit.

After days of diplomatic wrestling, the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution Thursday night calling for an "immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire" in the Gaza Strip that would lead to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave. Arab and Western diplomats seemed unconvinced that their handiwork would silence Israeli guns or stop the militant group Hamas from firing rockets into Israel.

BEIRUT - The United Nations Security Council is expected to authorize deploying a full mission of 250 monitors to Syria after it takes up the issue Wednesday, but Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon questioned whether even that number would be sufficient. "I think this is not enough, considering the current situation and considering the vastness of the country, and that is why we need very efficient mobility of our observer mission," he said Tuesday. He said he had discussed with European Union leaders whether the EU could provide helicopters and airplanes for that mobility.

  Speaking with an unusually unanimous voice on a divisive issue, the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday approved a statement supporting former Secretary-General Kofi Annan's peacemaking efforts in Syria and the delivery of aid for victims of the violence. The nonbinding vote included the support of Russia, which has stood in the way of previous council proposals on Syria. Moscow has opposed international intervention in the conflict and has a long-standing alliance with the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The General Assembly launched negotiations Thursday aimed at reforming the Security Council after nearly 30 years of efforts mired in national and regional rivalries. Representatives of the 192 member states met informally behind closed doors to listen to the timetable for talks on five key issues, including the size, composition and power of an expanded council. The Security Council currently has 15 seats.

Pakistan's upper house of parliament approved the creation of a National Security Council, a move opposition leaders said would cement the military's role in politics. The bill passed in the Senate while opposition members of parliament were out of the chamber, having stormed out in protest over a separate issue.

Libya said it was uncomfortable with the idea of sanctions against Iran but vowed to be "constructive" in dealing with Tehran's nuclear program while chairing the U.N. Security Council this month. Libya took over the rotating presidency this week. Among the issues that may come up are Western calls for a new round of sanctions against Iran, which has ignored demands that it halt its enrichment program. Libyan Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi said that "as a country that has suffered from sanctions we would definitely be in a difficult position."

The Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to ask Israel not to deport Palestinians from the occupied territories. It marked the first time the United States had voted against Israel in the council since 1981, the U.S. mission said. The United States, Israel's main defender at the United Nations, usually wields its veto power on behalf of the Jewish state. But Israel's crackdown on unrest in the occupied territories has provoked strong criticism by the Reagan Administration. On Dec.

With Iraq challenging the U.N. on arms inspections, the Security Council demanded that Baghdad allow weapons teams unconditional access to all suspected arms sites. The 15-member council, in a policy statement read at a formal meeting, said failure by Iraq to allow the U.N. Special Commission, in charge of scrapping Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, into any site was "unacceptable and a clear violation of the relevant resolutions." At the insistence of Russia, the U.S.

BEIRUT - As the cease-fire in Syria appeared to be unraveling, the U.N. Security Council on Saturday unanimously approved sending as many as 30 unarmed monitors to try to help maintain the fragile truce. Activists reported almost 30 deaths across Syria on a day when the international community sent a rare message of unity that the violence must come to an end. The bloodshed has been intensifying as rebels have increasingly taken up arms in the face of a yearlong crackdown by the government of President Bashar Assad.

BEIRUT - Two days into a fragile truce, and the question many are asking is, when is a cease-fire no longer a cease-fire? On the second day of a United Nations-backed peace plan to end violence and unrest in Syria's 13-month uprising, mass protests returned to the streets and in some places were met with gunfire, killing at least eight people, according to activists. In other towns, soldiers and security forces stationed nearby allowed protesters to gather, but the very presence of armed government forces was a violation of the plan.

  Speaking with an unusually unanimous voice on a divisive issue, the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday approved a statement supporting former Secretary-General Kofi Annan's peacemaking efforts in Syria and the delivery of aid for victims of the violence. The nonbinding vote included the support of Russia, which has stood in the way of previous council proposals on Syria. Moscow has opposed international intervention in the conflict and has a long-standing alliance with the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The National Security Council is moving to exert greater federal control over scientific studies of highly lethal diseases and toxins in the face of mounting fears that the research could be used by terrorists and rogue states, according to people with knowledge of the process. Under the NSC's guidance, the government plans to issue guidelines for research grants that would give agencies the authority to delay or restrict publication of findings they considered susceptible to "dual use" by terrorists or enemy states.

As diplomats attempted to craft a compromise, Russia remained firm Wednesday in its pledge to veto any U.N. Security Council resolution that could open the door for international military intervention in Syria. Meanwhile, fighting raged anew in the troubled Middle East nation, with nearly 70 additional deaths reported by opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose bloody crackdown on street protests has led to calls from the Arab League and Western powers for him to step aside.

  A high-powered gathering of Arab and Western diplomats pressed Russia and other allies of Syria to support U.N. Security Council action aimed at ushering Syrian President Bashar Assad from power to end a bloody crackdown on opposition supporters. At a Security Council session Tuesday, diplomats from the Arab League, the United States and Europe argued that those who continue to support the Syrian regime are allowing what started as a peaceful "Arab Spring" protest movement 10 months ago to spiral into full-blown civil war. They pushed the council to approve an Arab League-sponsored resolution calling for Assad to cede power as part of a transition to democracy.

The U.N. Security Council rejected Baghdad's proposal to impose conditions on U.N. weapons inspections, calling Iraq's refusal to admit U.N. monitors to sensitive facilities a "flagrant violation" of the Persian Gulf War cease-fire. The council repeated its demand that Iraq grant U.N. inspectors "immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access" to suspected weapons facilities. But the council statement did not include any threats of force if Iraq refuses to comply.

After gaining momentum with their successful bid to join UNESCO, Palestinians now seem uncertain about their next move to win full membership in the United Nations and frustrated with their progress. The Palestinians' U.N. application was discussed Friday at the world body's Security Council, but no vote was taken. Divisions among council members - including a veto threat from the U.S. - make the application almost certain to fail. In recent days, Palestinian leaders have acknowledged privately that they don't even have the nine votes needed to forward the application to the U.N. General Assembly, meaning the Obama administration may not have to use its veto.

The Palestinians on Friday plan to ask the United Nations to admit them as a member nation. Here are answers to some of the questions arising from their bid. Why are the Palestinians turning to the United Nations and what do they hope to achieve? After nearly 20 years of failed peace talks, the Palestinians say they hope their application for U.N. membership will put the Mideast conflict back atop the international agenda, break the deadlock in U.S.-brokered negotiations by increasing pressure on Israel and give their drive for statehood a boost.