Latest news with #UNAmbassador
Al Arabiya
5 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Israel says it will only grant one-month visas to UN aid staff
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is no longer neutral and Israel will only grant one month visas to its international staff, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the Security Council on Wednesday.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel demands UN scrap investigation body for Palestinian territories
By Olivia Le Poidevin GENEVA (Reuters) -Israel has demanded the U.N. Human Rights Council scrap a commission investigating rights violations in the Palestinian territories and Israel, accusing the body of bias, in a letter seen by Reuters. In the message sent on Wednesday, Israel's ambassador to the UN, Daniel Meron, said The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, discriminated against his country. Israel has regularly criticised findings by the U.N.-mandated commission, which has condemned actions by the Israeli military since it launched its offensive on Gaza following the deadly attacks by Hamas militants in October 7, 2023. The commission - established in May 2021 by the Human Rights Council during earlier hostilities between Israel and Hamas - can provide evidence used in pre-trial investigations by tribunals such as the International Criminal Court. "The Commission of Inquiry, both in its mandate and in the work of its members, constitutes nothing less than a manifestation of the institutional discrimination against Israel in the Human Rights Council," read the letter. Council President Jurg Lauber Lauber had received the letter but had no authority to abolish the commission, Council spokesperson Pascal Sim said. That would be up to the Council's 47 members, Sim added. In March a report by the commission said that Israel had carried out "genocidal acts" against Palestinians. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the report's findings biased and antisemitic. Israel disengaged from the Human Rights Council in February. Solve the daily Crossword
CBS News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Mike Waltz's confirmation hearing to be ambassador to U.N. planned for next week, source says
Washington — President Trump's nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, is expected to appear before senators next week for his confirmation hearing, a source familiar with the schedule confirmed to CBS News. Waltz left Congress to become Mr. Trump's national security adviser, a post he vacated in May after he came under scrutiny for his role in putting together a Signal chat in which a journalist was mistakenly included. In the chat, Trump's top national security officials discussed sensitive plans for a military strike on Houthi targets in Yemen. Axios first reported the hearing's timing. In nominating Waltz, Mr. Trump withdrew his first choice for the position, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, whom he asked to remain in Congress, where she could help advance his legislative agenda amid a tight GOP majority. Waltz is likely to face combative questioning from Democrats on the the Senate Foreign Relations Committee over the Signal controversy. The hearing also follows Mr. Trump's recent decision to strike Iran's nuclear facilities. Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois said in May that she expected the confirmation hearing to be "brutal" for Waltz. "He's not qualified for the job, just by nature of the fact that he participated in this Signal chain," Duckworth, a member of the committee, said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." Waltz did not require Senate confirmation to serve as Mr. Trump's national security adviser.
Bloomberg
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Seoul Foreign Minister Pick to Prioritize US-North Korea Talks
South Korea's foreign minister nominee Cho Hyun pledged to make resuming the US-North Korea dialogue a top priority, underscoring new President Lee Jae Myung's vision of building lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. Facilitating talks between Washington and Pyongyang will be central to the Lee administration's diplomatic strategy, the former ambassador to the United Nations told reporters on Tuesday, a day after his nomination.
Fox News
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
US still has no UN ambassador as world leaders convene amid multifront crises
After nearly 150 days since President Donald Trump entered office, the U.S. still does not have an ambassador to the United Nations despite geopolitics playing a cornerstone role in his second term. Following the withdrawal of Elise Stefanik from the nomination in late March over concerns that Republicans would not be able to hold onto her New York seat in the case of a special election, Trump nominated former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz for the top job on May 1. Though his nomination process appears to be just now moving forward as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which needs to vote on his confirmation before a full Senate vote can be cast, only just confirmed receipt of the nomination on Thursday. The first movement in Waltz's nomination process comes more than 45 days after it was first announced despite comments to Fox News Digital in early May by a GOP staffer who said, "The committee has been working at a historically fast pace and this nomination will be a priority moving forward." Though on Monday the committee was unable to confirm when Waltz's hearing and subsequent vote would take place. When asked by Fox News Digital why it had only just confirmed receipt of the nomination, the committee directed questions regarding the timeline to the White House. The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's questions about what the holdup could be, given that other nominations, like that of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, were pushed through within five days of Trump entering the Oval Office. Though the lack of a U.S. ambassador to the U.N. is not necessarily "dangerous," it weakens the U.S.'s ability to influence major geopolitical situations at a time when the U.S. is facing some of its greatest multifront geopolitical challenges since World War II. "There are downsides diplomatically to not having senior leadership and supporting political staff in New York. It lessens U.S. influence and its ability to negotiate at the top level with other missions and the Secretariat," Brett Schaefer, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and an expert on multilateral treaties and international organizations like the U.N., told Fox News Digital. Schaefer explained that though the U.S. does not have a Senate-approved official in place at the U.N., it does not mean the administration does not have representatives at U.N. headquarters in New York working to push U.S. interests. The U.S., as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, continues to hold its position and ability to use veto powers, should major geopolitical policy come into effect, like the use of snapback sanctions against Iran. Though the U.S. has representation should an emergency meeting be called, as one was over the weekend by Iran following Israel's Thursday night military strikes, the ambassador is seen as having the direct ear of the president and can therefore be more influential diplomatically when it tops to the top international body. "The United Nations is a serious playground whether you like it or not," Jonathan Wachtel, who served as counsel to the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations during the previous Trump administration, told Fox News Digital, adding that there are arguments for reform and policy changes. "But at the end of the day it's a flash point for every conflict in the world, and it's important to have the representation of the United States at the world body." Wachtel also pointed out that with all the conflicts around the world, whether the U.S. is directly involved or not, including Russia's war in Ukraine, Israel's war against Iran and in Gaza, as well as broader crises like world hunger, Washington needs its voice heard, otherwise its adversaries will step in. "[There's] just too many things going on in the world and too much ground to cover," Wachtel added. "And instead of the U.S. voice heard [at the U.N.], you're going to have the press corps here and diplomats listening more to the arguments of our adversaries, frankly speaking."
