All Blog Posts from World Watch

Just for the record, the British and American governments would like you all to know that President Obama and Prime Minister Brown get along just fine. They are good pals and have nothing but respect and admiration for each other, both in their personal and professional capacities.

Both governments are going out of their way to make that point Thursday morning after the latest eruption of indignation by the British press about Mr. Obama "snubbing" the U.K. leader on their simultaneous visit to New York.

"Angry Barack Obama rebuffs Gordon Brown," reads the headline in the conservative-leaning Telegraph. "Brown snubbed by Obama over private talks," was the more liberal Guardian's take.

According to British media, the White House rejected at least five requests for a bilateral meeting between Brown and Mr. Obama on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly. An ominous sign, the reports scare Britons into thinking, for the long-touted "special relationship" between the two allies.

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On Monday, a minister-level meeting at the U.N. Security Council stressed the urgency of reaching agreement on a Middle East peace settlement and the creation of an independent Palestinian state. But not invited to the meeting were both the Israeli and Palestinian delegations. The timing was delicate and seemingly intentional. The meeting was arranged a week before President Barack Obama meets with new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and it was criticized by the Israeli ambassador to the U.N., Gabriela Shalev, who said that the negotiations should not involve the United Nations.

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As the international community feared, North Korea has launched a long-range missile over Japan. As a result, Japan immediately called for emergency U.N. Security Council consultations on Sunday to deal with the launch, to condemn North Korea, and to possibly strengthen sanctions on Pyongyang.

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A week before President Barack Obama joins the largest developing and industrialized countries’ finance ministers and heads of state in London, the U.N. has issued its economic recommendations.

The bottom line: A drastic overhaul will be necessary to pull the world out of the recession, according to the Commission of Experts on Reforms of International Finance and Economic Structures, chaired by Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize for Economics. But that's easier said than done.

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Hamas on Saturday rejected the deployment of international observers in the Gaza Strip, describing the latest U.N. Security Council resolution as falling short of meeting the "national interests."

A statement by the Alliance of Palestinian Forces, which groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad among others, said in a statement that leaders of the Syrian-based factions "rejected the presence of any international forces or observers in Gaza Strip," and called for immediate stop of the "Zionist aggression," the withdrawal of the all Israeli troops, lifting the siege and opening of crossing points, including the Rafah crossing.

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After a week of negotiations, the U.N. Security Council voted 14-0, with a U.S. abstention, for a cease-fire in the embattled Gaza Strip. The U.S. abstained, and neither Israel nor Hamas is beholden to the agreement in New York.

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There is intense diplomatic activity and a glimmer of hope for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire at the U.N.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice scurried around the corridors of the U.N. from dawn until dusk with the French and British foreign ministers, staying well past her originally scheduled departure.

But, while there is support for a new Egyptian-French ceasefire proposal – the Egyptian foreign minister announced Thursday meetings in Cairo with Israel, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority – there is still a great divide on how to approach a ceasefire at the U.N.

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The U.N. Security Council emergency meeting did not produce a peace plan, but the French and Egyptian foreign ministers announced a new proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the embattled Gaza Strip and for the opening of border crossing – a proposal that appeared to be the result of negotiations with Hamas leaders in Syria and Egypt.

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The Arab League is setting the stage for yet another disappointment at the U.N. if significant changes are not made to their second draft resolution calling for a cease fire between Israel and Hamas. Foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk reports.

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