The UN confirms chemical experts in Syria destroyed missile warheads, aerial bombs, and chemical mixing equipment on Sunday as they started eliminating the country’s chemical weapons. “The process of destroying Syria’s chemical weapons program began today,” said a statement released by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The experts supervised... 

US President Barack Obama will use his Tuesday’s address to the United Nations in New York to demand that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down, according to US officials. White House spokesman Ben Rhodes told reporters on Friday that Obama’s speech will also focus on the need for a tough resolution demanding Syria turn over its chemical weapons or face a threat of force. Obama will... 

China has supported the Russian proposal to Syria to put its chemical weapons stockpile under the control of the United Nations. “We welcome and support the Russian side’s suggestion,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Tuesday in his regular briefing. “As long as the suggestion is conducive to easing the current tension in Syria, solving the Syria issue politically... 

McClatchy website published information saying that Russia handed over a large 100-page report to the United Nations in July. The report supposedly proved that it was the Syrian rebels who used sarin gas in Aleppo in March. The announcement of this, according to the website, was published Wednesday on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. UN spokesman Farhan Haq confirmed the receipt of the... 

The US National Security Agency has bugged the United Nations’ headquarters in the US city of New York. According to Germany’s weekly Der Spiegel in the summer of 2012, NSA experts managed to get into the U.N. video conferencing system and cracked its coding system. “The data traffic gives us internal video teleconferences of the United Nations (yay!),” Der Spiegel quoted one document.... 

Spain can’t trust UK on Gibraltar, official says. Spanish director general for foreign affairs has said Spain cannot trust Britain amid escalating tension between London and Madrid over Gibraltar. Speaking to the BBC’s Tom Burridge, Ignacio Ibanez said the row between the two countries would continue until a new artificial reef was removed from waters off the British-ruled territory. Moreover,... 

Britain sends warships to Gibraltar as dispute with Spain continues. Britain is sending navy warships to Gibraltar amid growing tension between London and Madrid over the territory’s sovereignty. According to reports, Royal Navy rapid-reaction force including aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and two frigates will sail for the Mediterranean on Monday, August 12 for a four-month deployment after... 

Ninety-three South African soldiers have been disciplined for offenses committed while deployed in a United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. South African Minister of Defense and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said Wednesday that the offending soldiers were punished for charges that ranged from murder to drunkenness, as well as sexual misconduct. One soldier was found... 

France has planned to keep a military presence in Mali beyond 2014, the country’s defense minister has announced. “Today, there are 3,700 French soldiers in Mali. We said, and the French president repeated it yesterday (Friday) that we will maintain our soldiers in Mali even after the end of this year,” Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Saturday. “It will be a limited number (of... 

Syrain refugees in a camp in Turkey The United Nations has warned that the number of Syrian refugees could double and reach three million people by the end of this year if the unrest does not end. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), so far 1.5 million Syrian civilians have fled to neighboring countries, including Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. UN figures also show that more than... 

Al-Assad: Syria will slash roots of Israeli adventurism Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has emphasized on Tuesday that Damascus is able to confront the Israeli regime’s adventurism, alluding to the recent Israeli aggression against the Arab country. The Syrian president stressed that the Israeli offensive is evidence of interference by Tel Aviv and its Western and regional allies in the Syrian... 

The United States and its allies are stepping up pressure on Syria by accusing Damascus of using chemical weapons against foreign-backed militants, Press TV reports. Analysts believe that the war rhetoric against Syria is very similar to the media propaganda launched by the US and its allies ahead of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On Friday, the US President Barack Obama claimed the world cannot stand... 

Less than a week after SWAT police went house to house ripping families out of their homes during broad daylight in the manhunt that ensued following the Boston bombings, other police departments have seemingly taken a police state cue and followed suit. Yesterday it was reported that FBI agents and local police SWAT along with the California Highway Patrol conducted a “massive sweep” of Oakland... 

Argentinean Foreign Minister Hector Timerman with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Argentinean Foreign Minister Hector Timerman has once again called on British authorities to enter talks over the Malvinas Islands at the United Nations. The request came on Tuesday, after Timerman along with other South American ministers met with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said the UK has declined the Argentinean... 

French army soldiers standing on armored vehicles as they leave Bamako and start their deployment to the north of Mali. France has reportedly imposed a media blackout on its invasion of Mali amid a growing war that rages on in the West African nation. On January 11, France launched the war under the pretext of halting the advance of fighters in Mali. However, as Paris has stepped up its ground offensive...