United Nations

Life has never been more difficult for the 22 million refugees and displaced people protected by the United Nations, according to a report released today that has raised alarm about the growing inhospitality toward asylum seekers. While some countries cite threats to their internal security and a lack of resources to explain their diminished enthusiasm for hosting refugees, others are simply tired of the responsibility, aid officials say.

Just days before the deadline for Syria to abide by a United Nations-backed peace plan, 54 people were reported killed across the country Wednesday, including 25 in the city of Homs as shelling and sniper fire there continued. In the days since President Bashar Assad agreed to an April 10 deadline for a cease-fire, activists and observers have said the government's crackdown against dissidents has intensified. In Beit Sahm, a Damascus suburb, 15 civilians were reported killed in an explosion that destroyed two buildings.

When United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was foreign minister of South Korea from 2004 through 2006, he experienced directly how entertainment can shape popular perceptions, when not one but two TV networks began airing miniseries about the lives of Korean diplomats. Although the series romanticized diplomat life with requisite dashes of love and conflict, the net effect for the foreign ministry was a burnished public image. "Good storytelling is a very strong tool to change the attitudes and minds of people," Ban recalled in an interview.

Former United Nations chief Kofi Annan is scheduled to be in Syria on Saturday on a special peace mission, but the veteran diplomat faces daunting obstacles in trying to craft a cease-fire in the almost yearlong conflict that has cost thousands of lives. Annan, a joint special envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League, will meet Saturday in Damascus, the Syrian capital, with President Bashar Assad, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters Friday. On the eve of his trip, opposition activists reported scores more killed across Syria as the now-traditional Friday protests took place in many parts of the country.

The Security Council rebuffed calls by several Arab nations for an open debate on the Gulf War but decided to continue nformal consultations behind closed doors. ALGERIA, LIBYA, MAURITANIA, MOROCCO, TUNISIA, SUDAN and JORDAN made the request. The United States and its allies on the 15-nation council oppose the meeting. In Geneva, the UNITED STATES denounced Baghdad's use of captured airmen as human shields and said Iraq has no right to sit on the U.N. Human Rights Commission. In KENYA, the U.N.

After reading Hart's opinion, I thought what an interesting, intelligent, articulate and insightful article it was. I would much rather read (and listen) to what Hart says than to read George Bush's lips. What a shame. JEFFERY D. RATLIFF Glendale

With crises such as the Persian Gulf conflict dominating the news, some leaders will turn their attention on Saturday and Sunday to the children of the globe. More than 75 of the men and women who govern the world will gather at the United Nations to discuss what they can do to save society's future. President Bush and Britain's Margaret Thatcher are among those expected to attend the World Summit for Children, organized by the U.N. Children's Fund.

This week in Washington, the United States is hosting an international conference obliquely titled "Expert Meeting on Implementing the U.N. Human Rights Resolution 16/18. " The impenetrable title conceals the disturbing agenda: to establish international standards for, among other things, criminalizing "intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of … religion and belief. " The unstated enemy of religion in this conference is free speech, and the Obama administration is facilitating efforts by Muslim countries to "deter" some speech in the name of human rights.

In past decades, Palestinian nationalists thought they had to hijack planes or blow up Israeli civilians in order to attract international attention. Some still do, but moderate leaders are lately discovering that the path to recognition might lie instead through the United Nations. On Monday, they won a key victory when Palestine — a state that doesn't technically exist — was granted membership in the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. That's giving the Obama administration fits and angering pro-Israel members of Congress from both U.S. political parties, but regardless of how one feels about the proper borders of Israel, the Palestinian switch to a diplomatic strategy represents progress.

Suspected insurgents in Afghan custody have been subjected to torture including electric shocks, being hung by their hands and having their genitals twisted, the United Nations mission in Afghanistan said in a report Monday. The 74-page report, detailing a widespread pattern of brutal abuses, will probably complicate American efforts to hand over security responsibilities to Afghan authorities as a prelude to winding down the Western combat mission in Afghanistan. "Torture is one of the most serious human rights violations under international law, a crime under Afghan law, and strictly prohibited under both laws," said Georgette Gagnon, the director of human rights for the U.N. mission.

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.

Palestinians have everyone guessing about their next move. Defying the United States and Israel, the Palestinian Authority is expected this month to apply for full membership in the United Nations. If the Obama administration vetoes the application in the Security Council as expected, Palestinian officials are likely to turn to the General Assembly to upgrade their status from non-member "entity" to non-member "state. " Gaining de facto statehood recognition from the international body could allow Palestinians to join key U.N. institutions, such as the International Criminal Court.

NATO's military intervention in Libya was initiated under the principle of the "responsibility to protect," a concept born from the ashes of the Rwandan genocide: that the world should not stand by while mass atrocities go on within a sovereign state. Though morally self-evident, this concept was slow to gain acceptance in the international community, particularly among developing countries, many of which saw it as a ploy by Western powers to meddle in the internal affairs of weaker countries.

A deal between beleaguered Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his opponents has given control of Iran's crucial Oil Ministry to a commander of the Revolutionary Guard who is under international sanctions, according to analysts and a former industry official in Tehran. Ahmadinejad, his rivals in parliament and leaders of the Revolutionary Guard put aside months of differences this week and appointed four new Cabinet members, including the controversial Brig. Gen. Rostam Ghassemi as overseer of the country's vast oil and natural gas riches.

The Afghan war claimed 15% more civilian lives in the first half of this year than in the same period a year ago, the United Nations said in a report Thursday that painted a picture of deteriorating safety across the country. The grim figures contrast with the relatively upbeat security assessments presented recently by senior U.S. military officials as an American troop drawdown gets underway. The U.N. said it had documented 1,462 civilian deaths from January to June, four-fifths of them caused by insurgents.