Edith M. Lederer

The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Thursday to condemn the American economic embargo of Cuba for the 28th year, rejecting U.S. criticism of human rights violations there and criticizing the Trump administration’s increasingly tough enforcement measures. The vote in the 193-member world body was 187-3 with the U.S., Israel and Brazil voting “no,” and Colombia and Ukraine abstaining. Last year,...

Syria’s top diplomat on Saturday demanded the immediate withdrawal of American and Turkish forces from the country and said his government reserves the right to defend its territory in any way necessary if they remain. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem’s remarks to the United Nations General Assembly were made as Turkey and the United States press ahead with a deal to...

President Donald Trump says the U.S.-Taliban talks on ending the fighting in Afghanistan are “dead,” deeply unfortunate wording for the Afghan civilians who have been killed by the tens of thousands over almost 18 years. Many fear his cancellation of negotiations will bring more carnage as the U.S. and Taliban, as well as Afghan forces, step up their offensives and...

A day after two North Korean missile launches rattled Asia, Pyongyang announced Friday that leader Kim Jong Un had supervised the test of a new tactical guided weapon that was meant as a “solemn warning” about rival South Korea’s weapons development and plans to hold military exercises with the United States. South Korea’s military said that the flight data of...

A sapling from the horse chestnut tree that Anne Frank watched from her World War II hiding place in an attic in Amsterdam was planted and dedicated at U.N. headquarters Wednesday to mark what would have been the 90th birthday of the teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement read at the...

Actress and activist Angelina Jolie says promoting equality for women, combatting injustice, and helping refugees are the most important parts of her life after her six children. “But in many ways, they go hand in hand,” she said in an interview late Friday with The Associated Press. “It’s what I hope my children know is important.” Off camera, the 43-year-old...

A hospital in a rural area of northwest Yemen was hit by an airstrike Tuesday killing seven people and wounding eight others, Save the Children said. The international aid organization, which supports the hospital, said in a statement sent to the Associated Press that four of those killed were children and two adults are unaccounted for. Save The Children said...

Angelina Jolie brought four of her six kids for a night out when the superstar family hit the red carpet for the LA premiere of “Dumbo.”

With only the United States and Hungary voting no, the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a non-binding compact Monday that provides more robust support for countries where most of the world’s more than 25 million refugees live. The Global Compact on Refugees also sets out measures to share responsibility to help those who are forced to flee their countries because...

A volcano erupted Wednesday on the same central Indonesian island struck last week by a powerful earthquake and tsunami, and authorities warned planes about volcanic ash in the air. Mount Soputan on Sulawesi island spewed a massive column of ash more than 6,000 meters (19,700 feet) into the sky. No evacuations were immediately ordered. A government volcanologist said it’s possible...

Days after U.S. President Donald Trump denounced globalism before world leaders at the United Nations, China and Russia positioned themselves Friday as defenders of internationalism that are keeping promises when Washington is backing away from them. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi denied his country was trying to eclipse the U.S. as a world leader, but his speech at the U.N....

A powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi on Friday triggering a tsunami.

President Donald Trump is insisting he has evidence that China is attempting to meddle in the U.S. midterm elections....
At a news conference Wednesday in New York, a reporter asked Trump what evidence he has to back up the accusation, which China has denied....
He says he can’t disclose what evidence he has, but that it will come out. He says his...

Warning that the world has a bad case of “trust deficit disorder” and risks “runaway climate change,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged global leaders Tuesday to abandon unilateralism and reinvigorate cooperation as the only way to tackle the challenges and threats of increasingly chaotic times. The U.N. chief painted a grim picture of the state of the world in his...

Yemen’s Shiite rebels on Friday backed a U.N. call for a probe into a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in the country’s north that killed dozens of people the previous day, including many children, in an attack that drew wide international criticism. Senior Yemeni rebel leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said on Twitter that the rebels — known as Houthis — welcome the...

The United States announced Tuesday it was leaving the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, with Ambassador Nikki Haley calling it “an organization that is not worthy of its name.” It was the latest withdrawal by the Trump administration from an international institution. Haley, Trump’s envoy to the U.N., said the U.S. had given the human rights body “opportunity after opportunity”...

There are over 1 billion firearms in the world today, including 857 million in civilian hands — with American men and women the dominant owners, according to a study released Monday. The Small Arms Survey says 393 million of the civilian-held firearms, 46 percent, are in the United States, which is “more than those held by civilians in the other...

The U.N. Mideast envoy told an emergency Security Council meeting Wednesday that the latest escalation in Gaza between its Hamas rulers and Israel is a warning of “how close to the brink of war we are every day.” Nikolay Mladenov said the international community should “unequivocally condemn” Hamas’ massive attack against Israel using 216 rockets and mortars. Israel responded with...

The U.N. Security Council is heading to a remote Swedish estate this weekend for its annual retreat with the secretary-general after one of its most contentious weeks in years that saw ambassadors accusing each other of lying about a suspected chemical attack in Syria. Sweden’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Carl Skau, whose country is serving a two-year term on the council...

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that nobody has been tougher on Russia than him and that he’ll hit Moscow with new sanctions “as soon as they very much deserve it.”...
He also said building a good relationship with Russia is a “good, not bad” thing....
Trump commented a day after an internal White House quarrel over the timing of potential new punishment...