Month: September 2015

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The latest developments from the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, where world leaders are grappling with a multitude of global crises, including the fight against terrorism — the Islamic State in particular — and easing the refugee crisis in the Middle East and North Africa (all times local):

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia launched airstrikes Wednesday in Syria, sharply escalating Moscow’s role in the conflict but also raising questions about whether its intent is fighting Islamic State militants or protecting longtime ally, President Bashar Assad.

Russia’s dramatic entry Wednesday into the Syrian war put the United States on the back foot once again and left Washington struggling to regain the military and diplomatic initiative. As US Secretary of State John Kerry was in New York trying to coordinate with his Kremlin opposite number Sergei Lavrov, a Russian officer contacted the US embassy in Baghdad. Kerry quickly protested to Lavrov that this was not in the spirit of Moscow’s promise to agree a “de-confliction” mechanism to ensure Russian flights do not interfere with US-led operations.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The latest developments from the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, where world leaders are grappling with a multitude of global crises, including the fight against terrorism — the Islamic State in particular — and easing the refugee crisis in the Middle East and North Africa (all times local):

The Palestinian flag was raised at the United Nations in a symbolic gesture Wednesday as leader Mahmud Abbas called on the world body to grant them full membership amid stalemate in the peace process. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Abbas presided over a packed and slightly chaotic ceremony in the rose garden as Palestinian frustration grows at home and tensions rise in Jerusalem. The Israeli-Palestinian peace process fell into the doldrums after the latest US initiative collapsed last year, on the back burner as the international community focuses on the war in Syria.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared before world leaders Wednesday that he is no longer bound by agreements signed with Israel and called on the United Nations to provide international protection for Palestinians, in the most serious warning yet that he might walk away from engagement with the Jewish state.