Japan’s Month Atop UNSC Has Next SG Straw Poll But No Yemen; Answers on DPRK and South China Sea, Here

By Matthew Russell Lee, for InnerCityPro.com UNITED NATIONS, July 1 -- When Japan's new Ambassador to the UN Koro Bessho held a press conference about the July program of work of the Security Council, which he'll preside over for the month, Inner City Pro asked him about the Council's working methods.  Video here, Tweeted photo ...

Pushing for Next SG, Helen Clark Saturday Night Live from UN, Questions UNasked

By Matthew Russell Lee, for InnerCityPro.com UNITED NATIONS, June 25 --   Helen Clark did a Facebook Live Q&A on Saturday evening from inside the UN compound, emphasizing that it would be 10 am in her native New Zealand. Photo here. In the interview, which did not ask any questions about for example the John Ashe ...

Germany’s Braun on Complex Libya & Yemen, Burundi Pressure, China’s DPRK Surprise

By Matthew Russell Lee for InnerCityPro.com UNITED NATIONS, January 21 -- Germany is running again for UN Security Council for 2019-20. By the election in 2018, the 2015 Person of the Year award to Chancellor Angela Merkel from TIME Magazine may have faded in memory. Still, its economy is larger than the two other European ...

On Syria, de Mistura Hasn’t Sent Invitations for Jan 25, But No Other Date Discussed, UNSC Press Elements Here

By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, January 18 -- When after closed door consultation with UN Syria envoy de Mistura the Security Council's president for January Elbio Rosselli was asked if there will be a delay in the talks past January 25, he replied, "I would only say that no different date was considered today.” ...

On Yemen, UNSC Press Elements, Here; ICP Asked of Nimr, Houthis & GPC Rejecting Envoy

  By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, January 5 -- The UN Secretariat's bungling of Yemen mediation has become ever more clear, according to multiple sources and documents exclusively seen by Inner City Press, see below.  Now that the Houthis and the GPC have both said they won't participate in any more talks facilitated by ...

ICP Asks Saudi PR Why Ended Yemen Ceasefire, Transcribed, Why Executed al-Nimr, Video

  By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, January 4 -- Saudi Arabia kicked off 2016 by announcing the execution of 47 people including Shi'a cleric Nimr al-Nimr and a formal end to the supposed Yemen ceasefire the UN and its envoy spoke about. Inner City Press asked Saudi Arabia's Permanent Representative to the UN Abdallah Y. ...

Q&A: On Syria Chemical Weapons, ICP Asks Kim Won-soo of Airstrikes Impact

By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, December 2 -- The Security Council proceeded on Syria with a briefing about the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) on the use of chemicals as weapons Syria on December 2, after which the UN's acting High Representative for Disarmament Kim “Mr. Jim” Won-soo spoke to the press. Periscope video here, InnerCityPro.com fast ...

US Power Answers ICP on Abuse in C.A.R., Urges Saudi To Be Discerning in Yemen with Sudan Troops

By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, December 1 — When US Ambassador Samantha Power held a press conferenceabout the UN Security Council’s work in December, when she will be president, Inner City Press asked her about two items on her Program of Work: the use in Yemen of troops from Sudan. Inner City Press also asked ...

After Burundi Meeting of UNSC, UK’s Rycroft Tells ICP Ten CSOs Discussed, Trip Timing: Q&A and Press Elements Here

By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, November 30 -- As killings in Burundi increased, on November 12, the Security Council adopted a belated resolution on Burundi. (Inner City Press put the full text online here, and here in French.) The resolution called for the UN Secretariat to report back to the Council, on November 30. Some time ...

On South Sudan, ICP Asked Why UN Not in Leer Amid Deaths, UK PR Rycroft Says Discussed

By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, October 26 -- Whom is the UN in South Sudan protecting? What are its priorities? On October 26, Inner City Pressasked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about Leer, below. On November 4, after the UN Security Council's closed door consultations with UNMISS chief Ellen Loj, Inner City Press asked Council President ...