Ban Ki-moon

Ethiopia is struggling with its worst drought for 30 years, with millions in dire need of life-saving aid, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Jan. 31.

At least 10.2 million people need food aid in Ethiopia, a figure the U.N. has warned could double within months, casting a fifth of the population into hunger.

In a recent article, the Economist focuses on the Bulgarian nomination for UN Secretary-General, which has stirred political tensions in the country.

The presence of two strong Bulgarian candidates, namely UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and European Commission Vice-President Kristalina Georgieva, has caused political turbulence in the country.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Jan. 27 that the United Nations' special envoy to Syria had told him that he would not be inviting the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) to peace talks in Geneva scheduled to start on Jan. 29 and that a Riyadh-backed opposition group would lead the negotiations. 

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has commended the two heads of the island of Cyprus for their "efforts and leadership" in peace talks on the divided island, adding that significant progress had been made in the negotiations. 

Turkey has "strongly condemned" Israel's expropriation of some 150 hectares of land in the West Bank, underlining the unlawfulness of the move by Israel.

Who managed to convince the Greek Cypriot leadership to drop its intransigence and agree to meet with the Turkish Cypriot leader in the presence of the U.N. secretary-general? Was it the Americans, or the British, or combined brinkmanship?

The two leaders of divided Cyprus said on Jan. 21 that a deal was possible this year to end decades of conflict over the island, calling on the international community to support peace efforts during their joint address to business leaders in Davos.

Secretary of State John Kerry is hoping to move aside obstacles that threaten to delay the start of peace talks to end Syria's war, seeking compromise with Russia's foreign minister on which Syrian opposition groups should be eligible to participate.
     

"The two communal leaders of Cyprus," I would say, but Greek Cypriots would bombard me with protest letters that Nikos Anastasiades was the "president" of the U.N. and EU-member Cyprus, not a communal leader with his buddy Mustafa Ak?nc?. Anyhow, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be meeting with the two on Jan.

The United Nations on Jan. 18 said it was waiting for regional powers spearheading the Syria peace process to agree on who will take part in talks scheduled to start in just one week's time and raised the possibility of a delay, as the foreign ministers of the head of the two camps in the Syrian war, U.S. and Russia, are to meet in Zurich on Jan. 20 to talk about Syria.