A conference on Somalia is being convened by the United Nations in Istanbul with the aim of showing support for the Somali people. But observers say the West's half-hearted approach is doing more harm than good.

The summit is just the latest example of the growing tendency of the United States to take important issues – such as financial stability, climate change, and nonproliferation – outside the UN system. The Group of 20 has become the prevailing symbol of this trend of addressing complex international issues in informal settings...

"To release the outcome of the investigation is easy," says Kim Tae-woo, senior North Korea analyst at the Korea Institute. "What to do after that is the most difficult part." Seoul is now likely to seek international action, perhaps by asking for tougher sanctions on North Korea from the United Nations Security Council.

The Obama administration announced Tuesday morning that it has struck a deal with other major powers, including Russia and China, to impose new sanctions on Iran, a sharp repudiation of the deal Tehran offered just a day before to ship its nuclear fuel out of the country.

From the Sugar Plum Fairy to Musetta's Waltz, the former Soviet republics showed off some brilliant young talent performing Romantic Era greats: Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Puccini.

The Nigerian Army will on Thursday in the United States be presented with an Accreditation Certificate of the United Nations in recognition of its peacekeeping centre as a centre of excellence for training in Peace Support Operations.

The objective of this year's climate summit should be to agree on the "architecture" for reducing global warming and restoring international trust, the United Nations top climate official said today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for strengthened global cooperation and more innovation in the battle against organized crime, including the emerging danger of cyber-crime, warning that it threatened world peace, security and vital economic development.