Vereinte Nationen

„The UN has awarded contracts worth tens of millions of dollars to people closely associated with the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, as part of an aid programme that critics fear is increasingly at the whim of the government in Damascus, a Guardian investigation has found.Businessmen whose companies are under US and EU sanctions have been paid substantial sums by the…

„Israel was enraged to learn Thursday that the United Nations is seeking to invoke diplomatic immunity for a Palestinian aid worker arrested on suspicion of aiding Hamas. Wahid Abdallah Bursh, 38, a U.N. Development Program contractor working in the Gaza Strip, was indicted last week for aiding and abetting a terrorist organization.On Thursday, the U.N. Office of Legal Affairs sent…

„Last month, UNESCO’s director general Irina Bokova issued a statement congratulating Russian- backed Syrian forces for liberating the ancient city of Palmyra from Islamic State (ISIS). Bokova said Palmyra ‚carries the memory of the Syrian people, and the values of cultural diversity, tolerance and openness that have made this region a cradle of civilization.‘ Bokova added, ‚The deliberate destruction of…