The Russian and Chinese veto of the U.N. Security Council draft resolution that would have declared the situation in Syria a threat to international peace and security, extended the U.N. diplomatic mission headed by Kofi Annan, and set the stage for new sanctions and possibly U.N.-authorized military action was hardly surprising. More important, it isn’t all that significant.

Two global institutions – the United Nations and the Olympic Games – face charges that they are using “unaccountable and out of control” private security contractors. One of the companies at the heart of both controversies is G4S, a private security company in the UK.

IT SOUNDS like the beginning of a bizarre guessing game. As of this month, the following unlikely mixture of people and agencies found themselves tarred with the same brush: Liverpool City Council, the developers and municipal authorities of Panama, the Islamist rebels of West Africa and the quarrelsome bishops of some ancient Christian churches in the Middle East. They all bear a share of responsibility for the fate of places that have recently been deemed by UNESCO to be “World Heritage Sites in danger”.

Will Internet companies help or hinder government authorities that try to restrict their citizens from using the Web freely? And will their customers, investors or shareholders care enough to do something about it? That debate was freshly stirred on Thursday as the UNHRC passed a landmark resolution supporting freedom of expression on the Internet.

The head of the United Nations observer team in Syria says he will adjust the way the monitors work when their mission resumes, with a focus on staying in certain areas for longer periods of time. Major General Robert Mood told reporters...that the U.N. Security Council will decide on the future of the mission in the coming days and weeks.

This gradually developed into the Chrétien government’s endorsement of “soft power,” a phrase originated by former U.S. president Bill Clinton’s national security adviser Joe Nye, which was a soft alternative to the use of American military might.

As the customs of global environmental governance dictate, world leaders gathered in Rio de Janeiro last week to argue their way around the possibility of saving the planet. After three days of talks and political posturing the planet is no closer to being saved, raising concerns of the relevance of the United Nations climate conferences.

The United Nations General Assembly today adopted by consensus, the “International Day of Happiness.”