Stephen O’Brien: UN opts for ‘pretty good candidate for important job’
Too often UN appointments are made entirely on political patronage and not at all on competence. This time the former has been tempered by the latter.
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Arab leaders announce the formation of a unified regional force to counter security threats, as conflicts rage in countries such as Yemen and Libya.
Saudi Arabia is contributing 100 warplanes and 150,000 soldiers to the military operation in Yemen, despite opposition from Iran and China, as the country slides toward civil war.
Nine British medical students and doctors are feared to have travelled to Syria to work in areas controlled by Islamic State militants.
The shopping centre at Tel Aviv’s Central Bus Station is a refuge for foreigners who have moved to Israel and want to set up a business. But its future is under constant threat, writes Toby Bakare.
A series of newly released images show the late Osama Bin Laden inside his Tora Bora compound in the Afghan mountains.
Too often UN appointments are made entirely on political patronage and not at all on competence. This time the former has been tempered by the latter.
The UN is frequently accused of waste and incompetence. Maybe if they started appointing senior people on merit that might change.
“For 30 years I said nothing. But now, if these children meet someone who denies the Holocaust they can say, ‘No – Solly Irving came to see us. He stood before us. He told us’.”
The Nigerian musician Fela Kuti is credited with pioneering afrobeat in the 1960s. Fusing traditional African music with contemporary genres, the Afrobeat scene is once again exploding in Britain.
What is wrong with us? While people and governments give generously to appeals for the victims of earthquakes and disease, they balk when it comes to those fleeing conflict.
If Andrew Lansley were to submit a CV for the top humanitarian role at the UN – which David Cameron is nominating him for – what would he write under “relevant experience”?
A chorus of concern is growing at the prospect of David Cameron’s former Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley being put forward for a senior humanitarian role at the United Nations.
EXCLUSIVE: The first photo of one of the men seized in a dawn raid in London. Channel 4 News understands he arrived back to the UK on Sunday and tweeted ‘I smell war’ hours before the police raid.
The British government is to provide £12m over three years in a joint deal with the French to tackle illegal immigrants at Calais.
With the spread of Ebola now out of control in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea a vaccine now being tested in the UK is probably the only hope for eventually stopping the outbreak.