North Korea has announced it will launch a rocket next month, which will put a satellite into orbit. But the U.S. and its allies see the plans as counter to international diplomatic efforts to deal with the reclusive state’s nuclear programme – and are worried the technology could be used to develop long range missiles in the future. It could also potentially violate UN Security Council... 

US and its allies are pushing Syria into civil war by backing the armed opposition, the newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party writes. The article insists Beijing must stick to opposing any attempt to intervene or regime change in Damascus. ­”If Western countries continue to fully support Syria’s opposition, then in the end a large-scale civil war will erupt and there will... 

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov says Moscow will not support a Western-Arab drafted UN Security Council resolution on Syria. Moscow says the new draft, due to be discussed on Friday, does not take into account the Russian position on Syria. The draft proposed by the US, its Western allies as well as... 

UN Security Council UN Security Council member Germany on Sunday formally requested emergency consultations by the 15-nation body on the Syrian government’s deadly offensive against demonstrators, a spokesman said. A meeting could be held on Monday. But the move is likely to reopen bitter divisions within the Security Council, which has not yet been able to agree even a statement on President... 

UN Security Council members vote on broader military and financial sanctions on Iran The US has warned India to honour UN sanctions against Iran after its foreign secretary criticised “unilateral” measures against Tehran over suspicions it is developing a nuclear weapons programme. Phillip J. Crowley, a spokesman for the US State Department, said it was for India to decide what individual... 

Demonstrators in Istanbul set fire to Israeli flags after the bloodshed An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council has been held amid mass protests and international condemnation after Israel’s deadly attack on an international aid convoy. Britain joined other countries in denouncing the dawn raid as “deplorable” with Palestinian leaders describing the bloodshed as a “massacre”. There... 

France backs South Korea's quest for intervention from the UN Security Council France has joined the chorus of voices calling for North Korea to be punished for firing a torpedo that sunk a South Korean naval ship. The UN Security Council has indicated that it is likely to intervene. France has joined the chorus of voices calling for North Korea to be punished for a surprise torpedo attack on... 

The international split over Kosovo grew more ominous Friday as Russia raised the spectre of using force to back its Serb ally’s bid to retain the territory. Russia’s envoy to NATO warned both the Western military alliance, which has a 16,000-strong peacekeeping force in Kosovo, and the European Union against formally backing the ethnic-Albanian leadership’s declaration of independence...